Valiant Spark
by wolfwitch94
Summary: Sequel to Valiant Spirits. Follow Val as she fights M.E.C.H., battles Decepticons, deals with monsters, and gets one stubborn Optimus to accept his feelings. Her new life is anything but dull. Op/Oc
1. A Typical Workday

**Alright, first chapter of the sequel! I'll admit, I'm kinda nervous about it. The first chapter is always the scariest to write for me for some reason. Hope you all like it. **

**I don't own Transformers. **

For most people, a typical workday involves a nine or twelve hour long work shift at some office, factory, hospital, restaurant, or so forth. They might be stuck in a small cubical typing out statistics all day, running errands, and getting trapped in boring meetings. The worse things that could happen to them are that they might get stuck in traffic, get yelled at by their boss, or get fired.

_My _typical workday involves tracking down egomaniacal anarchists and trying to prevent them from causing mayhem and destruction. The worse things that could happen to me are I might get captured and painfully tortured, or blown to bits by gunfire and explosions. The latter of which might just become a possibility if the M.E.C.H. agents start improving their aim.

But right now I wasn't too worried. They couldn't seem to hit anything smaller than a Decepticon, and I was in human form.

"Seriously, where did you guys learn to shoot?" I taunted from my hiding spot behind a large boulder. "At one of those target games they have at state fairs?"

Another round of bullets whizzed by me. These guys really hated my guts.

So much for asking them to be Facebook buddies.

"Darby you're really making a nuisance of yourself." I heard Silas call.

"It's what I live for." I yelled back. "My single pride and joy in life is pissing off bad guys like you, _Leland_."

It got so quiet I could've heard a pin drop.

"What did you call me?" Silas growled.

I peered over the rock and smirked at him. "Leland. As in Leland Bishop, your real name. Though I can't blame you for changing your name to Silas, you must've gotten the shit beaten out of you as a kid with a name like _Leland_. Maybe that's why you're out to destroy the known world. You know you could just go to therapy for that."

I barely dodged the explosion that disintegrated the boulder. My jacket was actually smoldering. I took it off and started stamping on it.

"Come on." I whined. "Do you know how many of these I go through?"

The only answer I got was another volley of gunfire. I jumped into the trees, using the spirits of Anansi and Bast to scramble along the branches. Waiting high among the pines, I watched as the leather-suited lackeys fanned out, guns drawn as they searched for me. One unfortunate leather-head stood directly beneath me. The tattoo on my right hip tingled as I summoned Anansi. The giant spider appeared in the branches beside me.

I grinned at him. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

Anansi clicked in agreement. The spirit may not have been much of a talker, but the trickster was easy to get along with and one of the most useful spirits in my arsenal. Anansi poised over the M.E.C.H. member, not so much as twitching then quick as a flash the spider shot a thick web down, ensnaring its prey and pulling the unfortunate agent upward. With one well aimed punch from me, the guy was knocked out. One down, three more to go. I leapt through the branches to where two of them stood. I signaled to Anansi and the spider dropped its hostage down upon them. They went down with a thud. The third member came rushing over. I jumped down from my hiding spot, lashing out in a kick worthy of any good kung-fu movie. The guy went flying, skull smacking into the trunk of a tree.

Geez, these guys were easy to take out.

As I was tying them up with the help of Anansi, I heard the whirr of an engine starting up.

"Shit." I hissed as I sprinted back through the trees.

The M.E.C.H. helicopters were starting to take off. Feeling incredibly reckless, I ran to the nearest one, jumping up and wrapping my arms around the chopper's landing skid as it took to the air. The helicopter was several hundred feet up and above some low hanging clouds before the realized they had an unwelcomed hitchhiker. The door to the chopper opened and I found myself nose to barrel with a gun. Silas grinned smugly at me.

"I commend you for your persistence." He said. "But this is where the ride ends for you."

I grinned. "Okie-dokie."

I let go just as a bullet whizzed past my ear.

There's nothing quite like free-falling from several hundred feet up. It's certainly a rush plummeting towards the ground. Especially when I didn't have a parachute. Then again, it's not like I _needed_ one. In a blur I transformed from Pretender mode directly to dragon mode. The world spun around me as my size grew, my skin shifted to metal armor, my spinal struts realigned, and wings and a tail appeared. Only a few feet from the ground, I snapped my wings opened and soared upward. I broke through the clouds and searched for the helicopters. They were a good distance away. I was tempted to shoot them down with my dragon fire, but killing them wasn't a part of my orders. Chasing them in this form was a no-no too; M.E.C.H. had yet to learn about my new…_upgrades_, and the Autobots, myself included, wanted to keep it that way for the time being.

A buzzing sound filled my mind as two familiar spirits entered my consciousness.

_"We destroy bad helicopters?"_ asked Euros, the spirit of the east wind.

_"No, not today guys." _I answered in my mind.

_"No destroy helicopters?" _Zephyros, the spirit of the west wind, asked plaintively. Those two really had a thing against helicopters.

_"How about you cause some really bad air turbulence?"_ I offered.

The spirits buzzed excitedly. _"Yay, air turbulence!" _

I chuckled as they whisked off after M.E.C.H. Though Euros and Zephyros acted like toddlers on Redbull, they were nifty to have in an air fight. When they'd discovered that I had become the dragon, they'd been eager to enter into a contract with me. Apparently it was a big honor in the wind spirit world to be allied to the dragon. Guess I was kind of like a celebrity to them.

No autographs please.

Tucking my wings, I dived down to the scene. I transformed to bi-pedal as I hit the ground. The area was littered with spare tools and weaponry, but that wasn't what had my attention. It was the hunks of glowing blue crystal that made me frown. Energon: the substance that makes up the life-blood of all Cybertronians. If M.E.C.H. was mining it then that was definite cause for concern. They had already made their interest of Cybertronian biology known when they had tried to slice and dice Optimus, but then they'd gone after Bumblebee and stolen the poor 'Bot's t-cog. Bee had managed to get it back, though the t-cog was nearly destroyed in the process. And where had I been during all of this? Back in Seattle clearing out my old apartment and visiting my father's grave with Mom. Was I pissed when I found out what had happened? Very. Would I make M.E.C.H. pay for what they'd done? Hell yes. But right now my orders were to simply track and observe. And occasionally harass.

I opened a comm link to base. :Val to base:

Ratchet replied a moment later. :What is your status?:

:Found our M.E.C.H. buddies, they flew off before I could do much damage though.:

:What were they doing?: Ratchet asked.

:I'll give you three guesses.: I said.

I heard Ratchet sigh. :Harvesting more energon.:

:Bingo. And it looks like they picked this deposit pretty clean.:

:I'll ready a groundbridge.:

:Oh, you might want to give a shout out to Agent Fowler.: I said. :I managed to catch a couple goons, they're tied up in the woods.:

:Are they intact?: Ratchet asked.

:Geez, what do you think I did to them? Skin them alive? As tempting as that would be, no I didn't do anything to them. Other than some splitting headaches and a new fear of spiders, they should be just fine.:

:I'll alert Fowler then.:

I turned off my comm and waited for the groundbridge. As I looked around I noticed a small patch of white on the ground. I groaned when I realized what it was: my sneaker, or rather, what was left of it. This made the third pair in two weeks, and the rest of my clothes were probably in no better condition. I smacked my head, mentally berating myself. I knew I'd be entering a situation where I might have needed to transform yet I did not switch to my Pretender apparel. I'd learned that my Pretender mode had two styles to choose from. Either the replica of the clothes I'd worn when I'd died: boots, dark jeans, grey shirt, and black jacket; or butt naked. Fun options there. Despite the convenience of the first choice, it felt odd to me. I mean, the clothes weren't really clothes they were, well, _me_. I couldn't take them off or change them. And they reminded me of my death which isn't something anyone wants to keep remembering. Furthermore I had all my old clothes back home. So I'd decided to cart the stuff back to Nevada. The upside is that wearing actual clothes is kind of comforting, makes me feel like I'm human again. The downside is that when I transform they tend to get shredded.

Win some lose some I guess.

I sighed, brushing the torn sneaker away with my tail just as the groundbridge appeared. I stepped though and was greeted by the sight of a grumpy Ratchet. Then again, the guy was always grumpy about something so I wasn't too worried.

"So what'd Que and Zig-zag blow up this time?" I asked.

"Nothing yet." Ratchet said.

"Well that's a nice change." I said.

"I said nothing _yet_." Ratchet huffed. "It's early, they've still got the whole day ahead of them."

"Oh goodie." I grumbled. I was usually the one assigned to help clean up their messes. "So where's the rest of the gang?"

"Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee are taking the children to school; Chromia and Lola are at target practice; and Optimus and Perceptor are on patrol."

"You just missed them actually." Ironhide said, walking into the main hanger.

I sighed. "Let me guess, Optimus heard I was coming and he made a run for it?"

"I believe the exact excuse was that he wanted to check out some possible subterranean energon deposits in some far corner of Russia." Ratchet said with an eye roll.

"Basically he gunned it outa here like Unicron himself was on his bumper." Ironhide said cheerfully.

For the past month and a half that I'd been here, Optimus had been avoiding me like the plague. He still spoke to me, but only if he couldn't avoid it and only if others were present. The Prime could face an entire army of Decepticons, but when I enter the room he practically runs to the nearest exit.

My shoulders slumped and my wings drooped. "He isn't making this easy for me."

"Give him time, Val." Ironhide said, cuffing me on the shoulder. "He ain't used to this sort of thing."

"It's true." Ratchet said. Oddly enough, the cranky medic had taken my side in this whole crazy situation. "For as long as I've known him, Optimus has never been romantically involved with anyone. Femmes had never shown him any interest when he was a data clerk."

"He had been what humans called a geek." Ironhide whispered to me.

"And after he became a Prime," Ratchet continued. "Optimus had no time to establish any relationships due to the war."

"Not even sure he knows how to establish a relationship." Ironhide huffed. "It doesn't help that you're hands-down the oddest femme this side of the galaxy."

"Thanks, that makes me feel better." I huffed then shook my head. "Ok, pity party over. I'm going to go find something to do. Probably get ready to clean up whatever mess Que and Zig-zag are about to make."

"You know where the cleaning supplies are." Ratchet said, turning back to the monitors.

I rolled my eyes and set off down the hall. Halfway to Que's lab a flash of silver darted in front of me. A sleek fox stood at my pedes. Of course, animals normally couldn't get into the base, but this was no animal. It was a spirit, and it belonged to Ella Longwing.

"My mistress asks that you come to camp as soon as possible." The fox said, speaking as easily as I would. "There is an important matter she must discuss with you. The camp's location is on the western edge of Montana." And with that the fox disappeared.

I stared at the spot as I pondered the message. The camp was obviously not in any danger; otherwise the message would've been more urgent. As I wondered why Ella needed to speak to me, an explosion shook the base. I groaned; looks like Zig-zag and Que got their explosion in for the day.

A faintly smoking Ziggy staggered around the corner, calling over his shoulder. "Yeah, we should definitely use a little less nitrogen next time." His blackened face grinned when he saw me. "Hey Val, you better go get the mop and bucket."

I though it over; see what Ella wants, or clean up duty? Why was I even asking myself this question?

I dashed away. "Sorry Ziggy, but there's someplace I need to be. I'll see you later. Send my regards to the mop and bucket."

I made my way to the roof of the base. I transformed and took off, turning northward. At my top speed I could easily outpace a fighter jet. I knew this because one day I'd gotten bored and followed Agent Fowler while he was practicing flight techniques, flying loops around him. So I should be at the camp in little over an hour. If there was one thing that I truly loved about my new form it was flying. It seemed odd that a metal dragon could fly so quickly with only the power of its wings, yet I cut through the air like a finely honed blade. Flying filled me with a sense of freedom and power. Here in the sky I was limitless. I roared with joy as I raced across the heavens.

* * *

I spotted the camp from my position several thousand feet up. Lazily I made my descent, gliding on drafts. I touched down in a small meadow beside the camp. A cry went up and suddenly I was surrounded by kids. The little rascals had been planning to ambush me. Now most kids would see a giant dragon and go "Ahh, a monster, run for it!" Not these kids. They saw me and went. "Look, a dragon. Let's climb on it!" I huffed and sank onto the grass, letting them scramble onto my back. Was I Valiant the Autobot, Valiant the dragon, or Valiant the _Spiritus_? Not to these kids, to them I was Val the jungle-gym, Val the playground equipment.

A laugh drew my attention to two approaching figures.

Lexie clapped her hands. "Alright kids. Ya'll got to get off Val now. She and Ella need to talk."

A round of disappointed "aws" were grumbled as the kids reluctantly climbed down. Once the last one was off me, I transformed to bi-pedal.

"Thanks Lexie." I said.

"No problem." Lexie called as she ushered the kids back to camp.

"I'm sorry to have to interrupt your day." Ella said.

I laughed. "Are you kidding? You got me out of cleaning duty so no complaints here. So what's up?"

"I believe I have a mission for you." She said.

That piqued my interest. After I'd joined up with the Autobots, I'd contacted Ella. The old woman had been overjoyed to see that I lived. She had been eager to help in any way she could. Ella had many contacts from around the world, so I'd asked her to keep an eye and ear out for any unusual activities that might shout "monster here." When the earth goddess Gaea had gained control of the planet a whole swarm of monsters had been released as a side effect. Some would live peacefully among humanity but others not so much. And it was my job to keep the troublemakers in line or destroy them. So far there'd been nothing out of the ordinary, but it looked like that was about to change.

"What kind of mission?" I asked.

"We've been getting some disquieting news out of Scotland." Ella said. "It appears there's trouble at Loch Ness."

**Looks like Val's gonna be heading to Scotland soon. I know, no Optimus in this chapter. Don't worry he'll be in the next one. I'll try and get the next chapter up a.s.a.p. **


	2. Travel Plans and Rude Introductions

**Alright, chapter two is up. Hope you like it. **

**I don't own Transformers.**

I stared at her. "Loch Ness? As in the Loch Ness monster?"

Ella nodded. "The very same."

"Hold on. Gaea told me that the Loch Ness monster had existed in this world for centuries. Other than causing a small tourist boom around Loch Ness, the monster hasn't been any trouble. So why now? And what is it doing?"

"Ships are being attacked from beneath the water." Ella said. "Some have even sunk. There have been claw and bite marks found along the hulls."

"Has anyone been killed?" I asked.

"Thankfully no. Just a few broken bones and cuts. But this is starting to draw international attention, risking exposure to all of us."

"But why is it attacking?" I asked.

"I am unsure." Ella said. "I have asked the MacSharnon clan, but they too are confused."

"The MacSharnon clan?"

"A family of _Spiritus_ who've guarded over the Loch and the monster for centuries." Ella said. "My acquaintance, Brigid MacSharnon, said that they lost contact with the monster several weeks ago, just before the attacks started. It could be that the Loch Ness monster has gone a little stir crazy from the amount of power that was released after the Earth Mother gained control, and you need to simply set it straight."

"Or it could be something worse." I said.

Ella frowned though the look in her eyes showed that she agreed with me. "Perhaps. But let's hope it isn't something worse."

"So I'm going to Scotland? You know, I've never been farther east than Chicago." I said. "I'd better give the others a heads up. Uh, but what exactly _is_ the Loch Ness monster?"

"We believe it is a certain species of kelpie." Ella said.

"What the hell is a kelpie?" I asked.

Ella smiled. "You'd better sit down, this may take awhile."

* * *

I walked into the main hangar to see Optimus talking to Ratchet. Ironhide, Chromia, and Wheeljack were discussing the advantages of certain weapons while Que was trying to convince Perceptor that toaster ovens would make for perfect bombs. Lola and Zig-zag were sitting on the couch playing checkers. Good, the bigger the crowd the less likely it was that Optimus would try to make a run for it.

I approached him slowly. "Optimus."

He stiffened slightly then turned. "Yes Valiant?"

"I would like to request a new assignment for the time being." I said calmly.

"New assignment?" Ratchet asked.

"There have been some disturbances in Scotland." I said. "I'm needed there to sort things out."

"Where in Scotland?" Optimus asked.

"Loch Nes—"

"You're going after the Loch Ness monster?" Zig-zag exclaimed.

I scowled at him, tail flicking in annoyance. "I'm not going after anyone."

"But you're going to Loch Ness." Ziggy said. "And I can think of only one reason why: you're going to hunt ol' Nessie."

"I'm not _hunting_ the Loch Ness monster." I growled at Ziggy then turned to Optimus. "There have been some ship attacks and it is believed that the Loch Ness monster is the culprit. It usually has a calm reputation but recently its behavior has become erratic. So Ella has asked me to go to Scotland to try to help the other _Spiritus_ there."

Optimus considered my words for a moment. "I have no arguments against you going, and even if I did I doubt that would stop you. My only concern is for your safety and that you keep your true form hidden."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I should be able to find and calm the monster without having to change into my dragon form." I said. "Ella said that it would be able to identify me for what I am no matter what form I take."

Optimus nodded. "Then my only stipulation is that you have another Autobot travel with you, for added protection."

"You volunteering?" I joked. "Kidding." I said when I saw him stiffen.

Zig-zag whooped. "We're going to Scotland!"

"What do you mean _we_?" Lola asked.

I turned to her. "You're not coming?"

Lola shook her head. "Nah, sorry Val but searching through a muddy lake for a monster doesn't sound too appealing to me. That's more of a Zig-zag thing."

Said Zig-zag was practically hopping with excitement. "Que you game for this?"

"I suppose I could take some time away from my lab." Que said.

I heard Ratchet mumble "Thank Primus."

Great, Zig-zag and Que were coming. They'd probably blow up half the loch. I'd be lucky if Scotland didn't ban us for life.

I looked around at the others. "Anybody else? Anybody? Please?"

Nobody volunteered.

My wings drooped. "Gee thanks guys. You're all great teammates." I sighed. "I guess I'll just go and pack then."

* * *

My quarters were simply furnished. A berth stood in one corner, a human sized bureau sat in the other corner with an old radio sitting on top of it. I had been rooting through the bureau, debating on how many pairs of fuzzy socks I'd want to bring, when there was a knock on my door. Raf came running in followed closely by Bumblebee. The boy looked like he'd run all the way here; his glasses were askew and he was panting.

"What's up?" I asked, throwing a sweater into my backpack.

"We heard that you were going to look for the Loch Ness monster." Raf said.

"Yeah."

:Can we come?: Bee chirped over the comm.

I stared at them. "When you say _we_, you mean…"

"Me and Bee." Raf said.

"Raf, this isn't some sort of field trip. We could encounter some seriously dangerous situations."

:You said that all you needed to do was calm it down.: Bee said.

"Well that's the theory." I said.

"Then there shouldn't be any danger." Raf chimed in. "Please, I'd really like to see the Loch Ness monster."

"What about Jack and Miko?" I asked.

"Jack has work, and he says it's fine to go without him. Miko wants to go but she has detention all week." Raf said.

"We're going to be gone for several days, possibly a week, what about your schoolwork and your family?" I asked.

Raf rooted through his backpack and handed me a piece of paper.

I read it with raised eyebrows. "Congratulations Rafael Esquivel, your application to join a week-long camp at Loch Ness, Scotland to study its aquatic biodiversity has been accepted. You and twenty-three other bright students will receive an all expense paid trip to the lovely highlands of Scotland." I continued reading to myself. When I was done I stared at Raf. "You made this whole thing up?"

Raf nodded. "Does it look believable?"

"Very much so." I said. "To the point where it's a little scary that a twelve year-old can come up with this sort of thing. But will you teachers and parents really believe this?"

"There's only a few weeks left until summer vacation." Raf said. "I'm already way ahead in my schoolwork. As for my parents, I'm the middle child of six kids, as long as they know I'm with someone trustworthy I don't think they'll worry much."

"What about a passport?" I asked.

Raf reached into his backpack and drew out a little navy-blue booklet. "Already taken care of."

"You didn't forge this did you?" I asked warily.

Raf shook his head. "Agent Fowler gave one each to Jack, Miko, and me in case we ran into authorities while we were in other countries with the Autobots."

This kid had thought of everything. He and Bumblebee were looking at me with puppy-dog eyes. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Fine you've got my ok. But you need to get Optimus's permission then you've got about two days to prep. If you're not ready you're not going, deal?"

Raf and Bee cheered and raced out of my room.

"And Raf, be sure to pack a raincoat." I called after them. "The weather is a bit on the rainy side in Scotland."

So it looked like our travel group had just added two more members.

* * *

"Be careful." Optimus said for about the tenth time.

I rolled my eyes and yawned. Getting up at four in the morning did nothing to improve my mood. Why the early hours? Because Scotland was roughly nine time-zones ahead of us. So though it was only in the wee hours of the morning here in Nevada, it was already lunch time in the UK. Needless to say, the main hangar at base was all but empty. The only occupants were myself, Que, Zig-zag, Ratchet, and Optimus. We were waiting for Bumblebee to arrive with Raf and then we'd groundbridge out.

"Why are you even here?" I asked, stifling another yawn.

"I came to see you all off." Optimus replied.

"Uh-huh. Shouldn't you be celebrating instead? Que's not going to be here, so you won't have to worry about the base being blown to bits. And I'm going to be gone, so you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder whenever you walk into a room." Not exactly the nicest thing to say, but I was tired.

"Your absence is nothing to be celebrated." Optimus said.

I snorted. "Really? Well do you realize this is the first real conversation we've had in over a month? You know, I think it's because I'm in human form; it must be less intimidating for you."

"You are no less intimidating in this form than you are in any of your others." Optimus said.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"Of course you would."

"So sue me, I'm being optimistic." I retorted.

"There is being optimistic and then there is being completely obtuse." Optimus said.

"Since when did we start talking about triangles?"

Optimus just shook his head as I laughed.

"Don't you miss this?" I sighed. "Talking like this? I know I do."

Optimus stared at me for a moment. He had just begun to speak when the rev of an engine cut him off. Bumblebee drove into the hanger, Raf asleep in the passenger seat.

"Looks like my ride is here." I said. "Sure you don't want to come? What if I need saving from the big bad monster?"

Optimus rolled his optics. "Go Val, and be safe."

"Come on, this is me we're talking about, safety is my middle name." I called as I walked toward Bumblebee.

Bee popped open the door and I climbed into the driver's seat. I looked back to see Ziggy sitting in Que's alt-mode. I gave Ratchet the thumbs up. The groundbridge whirred to life and we drove through. I squinted into the bright sunlight as we exited the groundbridge. Sunglasses: that's what I'd forgotten to pack. Bright green hills surrounded us. Ratchet had transported us several miles north of the city of Glasgow.

"Remind me again why Raf is allowed to nap during this _three hour_ trip and I'm not?" Zig-zag asked over the open comm.

"Because you're sitting in the driver's seat and I don't want any passing cars to get into an accident because they're busy staring at a guy asleep at the wheel." I said. "Oh and Que, you're on the wrong side of the road, people drive on the left here."

Que quickly changed lanes.

"But why did we bridge so far from Loch Ness?" Ziggy whined.

"Because the MacSharnon's believe we're flying in and the nearest airport is in Glasgow. We have an appearance to keep, Ziggy. They're not like Ella and the others at the camp; they don't know about the Autobots."

"So keep the sci-fi stuff to a minimum." Ziggy said. "Got it. Hear that Que? We're supposed to leave all the freaky crap to Val."

"That includes blowing anything up." I added.

"But what if—" Que began

"_Anything_." I reiterated.

"So what am I supposed to do for three hours?" Ziggy asked.

I sighed. "I don't know; enjoy the scenery, play eye-spy, sing Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall. I don't really care."

I switched off the open comm and sighed. "I'm glad you and Raf are coming, Bee. At least there will be two members of this group that aren't completely bonkers."

:So are you calling yourself crazy then?: he buzzed amusedly.

I snorted. "Are you kidding? I'm surprised you haven't realized by now, Bee; I'm nuttier than a pecan pie."

:Oh. What's a pecan pie?: Bee asked.

* * *

I gently shook Raf's shoulder. "Hey kiddo, wake up. We're almost there."

The boy rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. "Wow, it's so different here."

"You got that right." I said, staring at the rolling hills around us and the grey clouds that now covered the sky. "You remembered to pack a coat right?"

"Yep." Raf said, pulling on a bright yellow raincoat.

I snickered. "You color coordinated with Bumblebee?"

"It was the only one I could find." Raf said defensively. "It doesn't rain very often in Jasper, Nevada."

"I'm just kidding." I said ruffling his hair. "You look very cool, very tough."

:Yellow is a great color.: Bee chimed in.

"You're biased." I said. "But you're right, yellow is a good color to have here; it brings a bit of sunshine. And this place sure could use it." Of course, growing up in Seattle, I was used to the constant overcast.

It began to rain.

Que opened the comm link and Zig-zag spoke up. "How much further?"

"The MacSharnon house is only a few miles north of here." I said. "It's right along the eastern edge of Loch Ness."

"Speaking of, take a look out your passenger-side windows." Ziggy said. "The loch is coming into view."

I peered around Raf just in time to see the hills give way to the loch. Though narrow, Loch Ness was very long, bordered by highlands on either side. We were on the southeastern edge, so I couldn't see the northern side. The surface of the dark-grey water was being churned by the wind, causing some decent sized waves to lap along the shore. I stared at the water, wondering just what lurked in those depths.

"This is so cool." Raf said. "Oh I almost forgot, Miko asked me to take pictures. She said to try to get one of the Loch Ness monster too." He took out his phone and snapped a photo of the loch.

"Good luck with that." I said. "People have been trying to get a snapshot of Nessie for years; no one's ever gotten a good picture."

:Raf will be the first then.: Bee said confidently.

"I'm hoping." Raf said.

"Are we supposed to take this turn-off coming up?" Que asked.

"Yeah, that's the road to the MacSharnon place." I said.

We turned off the main road and wound down a little gravel drive. A few minutes later we came into view of the MacSharnon home.

Raf's eyes grew big. "Wow."

"Geez Val, I thought you said it was a house, not a miniature Hogwarts." Zig-zag said.

I laughed sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Ella told me the place was called _Castle _MacSharnon."

:Well she got the castle part right.: Bee said.

Before us was a massive grey fortress resting near the shore of the loch. Several turrets reached skyward, built from rough stone. The castle was old but still strong; it seemed to be saying to its surroundings_ I've weathered hundreds of years against the elements and I'll last several hundred more. Do your worst. _Well said, Castle MacSharnon, well said. Que and Bumblebee pulled around to the front of the castle. Zig-zag, Raf, and I hopped out and walked to the large wooden double-doors, our shoulders hunched against the now heavy downpour.

"So is there like a doorbell we're supposed to ring?" Ziggy asked.

"I think we're supposed to use those." Raf pointed to a set a brass knockers in the shape of snarling gargoyles.

I lifted one of the knockers and let it drop. It banged against the door with a loud echoing thud.

"That was kind of creepy." Raf said.

"If an emaciated old geezer in a butler's uniform answers, I'm sleeping in Que's alt-mode." Ziggy mumbled.

But all such thoughts fled Ziggy's mind when the door opened to reveal, not a withered servant, but a woman in her early twenties with shoulder-length, dark red hair. Her left eye was the same grey as the loch and her right eye was a green that matched the surrounding highlands.

Ziggy jaw went slack. "Pretty." He whispered.

I kicked him in the shins.

"Are you Brigid MacSharnon?" I asked politely.

"Brigid MacSharnon is my grandmother. I'm Caelan MacSharnon. And I'm going to assume you're the people that are supposed to take care of our little _problem_." Her accent was crisp and biting. She scrutinized us with a frown.

Now I'll admit, I wasn't exactly dressed to impress. Wearing scuffed hiking boots, faded jeans, an old Motley Crew t-shirt and a grey windbreaker, with my short hair in its usual unruly tangle, I didn't exactly exude an aura of confidence and power. But this chick was looking at me like I'd crawled out from under a rock.

Still, I held out my hand. "Valerie Darby, at your service. These are my friends Zacharian Laprin and Rafael Esquivel."

Caelan ignored my hand and stared at my eyes. "One black eye, one white eye. You're the girl from that drab old prophecy, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Shouldn't you be dead?"

Ok, I didn't know how introductions were done here in Scotland, but I knew in the states it wasn't exactly nice to open a conversation with: _shouldn't you be dead_.

"There was a slight misinterpretation in the prophecy." I said through gritted teeth.

"Hmm." Caelan continued to scrutinize us for another minute. "Well I suppose I should go inform Grandmother that you've arrived."

She slammed the door in our faces.

"Oh don't worry about us." I grumbled at the door. "We'll be just fine out here in the rain. No need to invite us in or anything."

"She's pretty." Ziggy sighed, a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Pretty _mean_." Raf mumbled.

"It's no use, Raf." I sighed. "He's out of our reach."

A prickle ran across the back of my neck. We were being watched. My eyes immediately turned toward the loch, but nothing was there. No; just because I couldn't see anything didn't mean that nothing was there. I got the feeling that Caelan hadn't been the only one scrutinizing us.

:You ok?: Bumblebee asked.

:Yeah, just keep an optic out for anything funny.: I replied.

:Will do.: Bee said. :If we see a giant monster that isn't you, I'll let you know.:

The door opened again and Caelan ushered us in. "Grandmother will see you now. Watch your step, and please don't drip water on anything, the carpets were just cleaned."

I sighed quietly; if this was supposed to be our welcoming committee, our time here wasn't looking to be very pleasant.

**That's it for now. What's going to happen next? I can't tell you that, it would ruin the suspense *chuckles evilly*. Val's adventure at Loch Ness is going to take another two or three chapters. Will Optimus show up? Maybe, maybe not. Mwuahaha! All is not as it seems at Loch Ness. To quote a Scooby Doo movie that I watched with my little sister: "Do not go looking for trouble's view. At Loch Ness, trouble can come looking for you." **

**And on that cheery note, bye-bye!**


	3. Haggis With a Side of Mystery

**Ugh, sorry for the wait everyone. This chapter just did not want to get written; it fought with me the entire time. I hate writer's block! But here it is, at last, chapter three. **

** I don't own Transformers.**

I have to give the MacSharnon clan credit; they definitely owned the market for creepy old castle. Everything inside looked like it had walked off the set of some old black and white horror flick. The long hallway was decorated with mounted animal heads whose eyes seem to follow our every movement in that creepy way that only bodiless animals could, dusty tapestries that had probably been around longer than the U.S. had been a country hung along the wall, and there was even a suit of armor. It honestly felt like we'd been transported back a few hundred years. The only hints of modern time were the electric lights that glowed dully.

This place seemed about as cheery as a mausoleum.

"It looks like you've got quite a bit of history on these walls." Zig-zag said, not paying any attention to said walls.

Caelan sighed. "The MacSharnon castle has stood for over nine-hundred years. It has been the ancestral home for generations of MacSharnons." She said this in a monotone voice, as if she were reading the words off paper.

"It must be interesting to live in a castle." Ziggy persisted, seeming unable to take a hint.

"Yes, I suppose it must seem grand to you Americans." Caelan said.

It would be a miracle if, by the time this case was over, I did not end up punching her. Caelan led us into a large study. Bookshelves reached the ceiling and wrapped around the entire room except for a section that contained a wide fireplace that held several smoldering logs.

"It is an honor to have a descendant of the first _Spiritus_ in my home." said a voice by the fireplace.

I turned to see an old woman sitting in one of several high-backed armchairs. Her hair was a dusty grey fading to white except for a single streak of dark red hair. She had dual colored eyes the same shades as her granddaughter.

"No honor really, I just came here to try to help." I said.

The old woman picked up a cane and hobbled over to us, her movements small and unsteady with age.

She held out a gnarled hand. "Brigid MacSharnon."

I gently shook it. "Valerie Darby. Thank you for letting us stay at your home."

"Thank you for coming." Brigid said. "Though I wish you hadn't. Not to be rude. I just wish we hadn't inconvenienced you."

"It's no trouble." I said then gestured to Zig-zag and Raf. "These are my friends Zacharian Laprin and Rafael Esquivel. They came along to give me a hand."

Brigid nodded at them. "A pleasure. And I see you've already met my granddaughter, Caelan. I'm afraid that's as far as it goes for introductions. Other than myself, only the maids, Eliza and Jane live here."

"Must be pretty lonely living here by yourself." Raf said.

"It can get a little dull around here sometimes." Brigid said. "Caelan lives most of the year in Edinburgh with my son and his wife. She stays here in the summer for training."

"It's something I look forward to all year long." Caelan said, her tone heavy with sarcasm.

Brigid rolled her eyes. "You'll have to excuse my granddaughter. Just because she attends Oxford in London, she believes the rest of us mere mortals are barely worth her attention."

Caelan sighed. "I just don't see why I need to be here because the family pet is misbehaving."

"And you keep forgetting that you are a member of this family, and as such have a responsibility to our home and our _pet_, as you so term the creature." Brigid snapped. "Now go tell Eliza to prepare supper." She watched Caelan storm off then turned back to us. "Forgive me. I did not mean for you to see that."

"Every family argues." Raf said.

Brigid smiled sadly. "And this is one argument we've gone through many a time, Caelan and I. It seems the old ways die a little more with each generation. But enough of this melancholy chit-chat, you probably wish to be settled."

Brigid rang a small bell and a maid appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

"You rang, Ma'am?" she asked.

"Jane, please show our guests to their rooms." Brigid said. "And then go down to the kitchen and help Eliza prepare the meal."

"I really should be going to the towns." I said. "I need to interview possible witnesses. And I don't suppose you have any old records of the monster; some documents of your family's interactions with it? Anything at all would be helpful."

Brigid patted my shoulder. "You shouldn't strain yourself. I insist you get a good night's rest before you start your investigation. After all, you need to adjust to our Scottish time. What do you call that syndrome again? Jet stream?"

"Jet lag." I said.

"Ah, yes that's it. Now go on and freshen up and I'll see you at supper." She waved us out of the room.

"This way please, Miss." Jane said.

I followed with Ziggy and Raf sticking close behind me. She led us up several stairs and down another tapestry-lined hallway. Raf and Zig-zag were shown their rooms, simply furnished yet elegant all the same. Then I was led to mine. The room must've been part of one of the turrets as it was rather circular in shape. Glass doors led out to a small balcony overlooking the front grounds of the castle. Below me were Bumblebee and Que, and to my left was a view of the loch.

"Will there be anything else you need, Miss?" Jane asked.

"No thank you." I said.

She nodded and left. A moment later Raf came in followed by a very dazed Ziggy.

"Oh cool, you have a balcony." Raf said, walking to the doors. "There's Bee." Raf waved and Bumblebee flicked his lights.

A sigh drew my attention to Zig-zag. He was sitting on the edge of my bed staring at the ceiling with the stupidest grin on his face.

"I can't seem to snap him out of it." Raf whispered to me. "It's starting to scare me."

"Let me give it a try." I said. "Hey Ziggy, I hate to tell you this but there's no internet connection here."

A lack of internet access would usually send Zig-zag into a panic attack. But instead he simply sighed dreamily and said. "That's nice."

"Wow, he is definitely out of it." I said.

"What are you going to do?" Raf asked.

"I can't think of anything other than tying him up and tossing him into Que's trunk." I said. "And I don't think Que would appreciate that."

"Can't you do some sort of spirit thing?" Raf asked.

I shook my head. "Nope. This is just Ziggy being an idiot. Don't worry too much; this isn't the first time Zig-zag has gotten all moony-eyed over a girl."

"What happened the last time he got like this?"

"You don't want to know." I grimaced. Zig-zag had somehow ended up being tied upside down to a flag pole. Most of the Seattle P.D. still refers to him as the Star Spangled Albino. Ziggy and romance just never worked out well.

"So what do we do now?" Raf asked.

"We have a little fun with it." I said then turned to Zig-zag. "Ziggy you should put on a change of clothes for dinner."

That snapped Ziggy to attention. "Yeah, yeah I should change. What do I wear?"

"I packed you a tuxedo in case of emergency." I said.

"Tuxedo! That's perfect!" He ran out of the room.

Raf stared in disbelief. "He does know you were joking right?"

I laughed. "Sadly no. But he will after he rips his bag apart. Let's watch the fun."

* * *

I was walking down the front hall slowly, gazing at the various tapestries. A knock drew my attention to the front doors. Caelan walked down the hall, muttering about lazy maids, and opened the door. At the entrance stood a young man with shoulder length black hair, light brown eyes and a smile that would make most women swoon, Caelan included though she was trying her best to hide it. The guy held a bouquet of wildflowers in his hands.

Caelan reached out to take the flowers. "I do not know who you are, but I must say that you're making a splendid first impression."

The man moved the flowers from her reach. "I'm sorry but these are for Brigid."

"Pardon?" Caelan asked.

I hid my snort of laughter as a sneeze.

Just then Brigid came hobbling down the hall, a bright smile on her face. "Feoras! What a pleasant surprise."

"For you my lady." Feoras handed her the bouquet.

"Oh you charmer, you! These are beautiful." Brigid said.

I heard Caelan gag slightly.

"I'm sorry to intrude." Feoras said. "I was unaware you were having guests over. I shall visit another time."

"What? Nonsense, you must stay for dinner." Brigid said.

"Grandmother, we did not prepare enough food." Caelan said, putting emphasis on the word grandmother.

"Actually, I can't eat." I said, coming to stand beside them. "I forgot to tell you earlier on, I'm sorry. It's a condition I have; I require a, uh, rather particular diet." That diet consisted of nothing at all, but they didn't need to know that.

"Well then that settles that." Brigid smiled. "Feoras you will stay for dinner."

"As always, your hospitality exceeds expectations." Feoras said, kissing Brigid on the hand.

"I am going to go vomit now." Caelan mumbled just as Jane appeared to announce dinner was ready.

"Well, let's not dawdle." Brigid said cheerfully, leading the way to the dining room.

I turned to Feoras and held out my hand. "Valerie Darby."

"Feoras, just Feoras." He said, shaking my hand.

An unpleasant jolt traveled through me as he grasped my hand. Little warning flags were popping up in the back of my mind, telling me something was off with this guy. I shook my head slightly, trying to clear the feeling. Had the time change made me paranoid? As far as I could tell this guy was just fine, yet the feeling still persisted, nagging at the back of my consciousness.

"Are you alright?"Feoras asked.

"Yeah, sorry. The time change is making me a little loopy." I said, rapping my knuckles against my head. "I just zoned out a bit there."

"Are you two coming?" Caelan called back irritably.

"After you Miss Valerie." Feoras said.

We walked to the dining room where Brigid, Caelan, Zig-zag, and Raf were already seated. Ziggy immediately began to shoot death glares at Feoras, even after Feoras took a seat beside Brigid. I sat beside Raf and watched as Jane and Eliza served platters to the others. On top of the plates was some strange, steaming grey food, kind of in the shape of a slightly deflated balloon. To be honest, the stuff didn't look that appealing. I was glad I couldn't eat anymore.

"What is it?" Raf asked, tentatively poking the food with his fork.

"Haggis." Brigid said.

"What's that?" Ziggy asked.

"It's a sheep's stomach stuffed with diced liver and kidneys." Caelan said, looking at the meal with a bored expression. "Sometimes it's made with a goat's stomach instead."

Like that helped any.

I silently sent my thanks to both Primus and Gaea that I no longer had to eat.

Raf looked a little green. He leaned over to me and whispered quietly, "There's not enough ketchup in the world that you could put on that to get me to eat it."

"You should take a picture and send it to Miko." I whispered back. "Might scare her."

"Look at Zig-zag." Raf said.

Ziggy looked just as grossed out as Raf, however he kept glancing over at Caelan.

"You don't think he's going to…" Raf whispered.

Zig-zag scooped up some of the meat onto his fork and very quickly swallowed it, trying not to shudder.

"I have to hand it to Ziggy," I whispered back to Raf. "He's either braver or dumber than I realized."

"So Grandmother, how is it you came to be acquainted with Feoras." Caelan asked.

"He has been giving me some excellent advice for my garden." Brigid said happily.

"So you're a groundskeeper." Caelan said in a sneering tone. "How nice."

"I wouldn't say that." Feoras laughed. "I just know a bit about the plant life around the loch."

"And how long have you lived here?" Cealan asked.

"Most of my life." Feoras replied.

Cealan narrowed her eyes. "I find that hard to believe. We know most of the families here."

"Cealan, stop with this attitude." Brigid said sharply.

"I'm just trying to look out for you, Grandmother." Cealan said. "Thieves and swindlers can take all sorts of forms."

"Cealan!"

I sighed, wanting to slink off into another room.

Bee pinged in on my comm. :How's it going?:

:Wishing desperately that the Loch Ness monster would show up.: I replied. :Or at least a squadron of Decepticons, or maybe some M.E.C.H. agents.:

:That bad?: Bee asked.

:If you were to look up the definition for dysfunctional family, I'm pretty sure you'd see their picture under the caption.:

* * *

I was lying on my bed staring at the ceiling when a soft knock sounded at my door.

Raf peeked in. "Val, I can't sleep."

I sighed. "Yeah I know, jet lag sucks." It may have been just past midnight here, but in Jasper it was only around three in the afternoon.

"I was thinking that since we can't get any sleep, maybe we should explore the castle; look for clues." Raf said.

"Raf, that would be encroaching on our guests' privacy." Though I'll admit the thought had crossed my mind several times before.

"Just to the library." Raf persisted. "We're not going to take anything, just try to find some stuff on the monster. We didn't learn anything today and I'm sure it's driving you nuts."

He had that right. I was still a cop at heart—spark—and nothing drove me more bonkers than to just sit around when there was a case that needed solving.

Raf clasped his hand together. "Please?"

I sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright. But you'd better come up with a good excuse if we get caught because this is all your idea and I have the right to blame you." Grabbing a sweater, I followed Raf out into the hall.

"I have a flashlight." Raf said.

"Don't turn it on yet." I said. "I'll lead: great night vision after all."

"You're not going anywhere." A voice whispered from behind us.

We jumped and whirled around to see Zig-zag giving us the death glare. Which would've been more intimidating if he hadn't been wearing pajamas with little computers on them, and a set of fluffy slippers.

Zig-zag crossed his arms. "I can't believe you would betray Caelan and her grandmother's hospitality by snooping around the castle at night."

"Hospitality?" I snorted. "Caelan has shown us as much hospitality as a rabid grizzly bear."

"There are Decepticons that are nicer than her." Raf agreed.

"Seriously Ziggy, I think you've been brainwashed." I said.

"I'm not going to let you wander around." Zig-zag said.

"What are you gonna do? Tattle on us?" I asked.

"If it comes to that, yes." Ziggy said.

I stepped close to Zig-zag so we were nose to nose. "You say anything about this and I'll sic Anansi on you."

Ziggy paled; he was terrified of the spider spirit. "Fine, but I'm coming with you."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, but you make any noise and it's spider time for you."

Zig-zag gulped loudly but nodded.

"Alright, now that that's settled, let's get moving." I said.

I led the way through the winding corridors, needing only the faintest glow of moonlight to see. Only a soft padding sound could be heard as our feet stepped along the cold stone floor. It took us a few minutes to find the library; I had gotten us a little lost and ended up leading the boys to the kitchen instead. The door to the library creaked as we entered; Raf flicked on his flashlight, the faint glow casting the towering shelves in shadow and giving them an ominous appearance.

"So where do we start?" Raf asked, gazing at the vast amounts of books. "Doesn't look like they've got any sort of system for organization."

"There isn't any Dewy decimal number for mythological creatures." Ziggy grumbled.

"Actually there is." I said.

Zig-zag and Raf stared at me.

"What? I used to volunteer at a library when I was in high school." I grumbled. Not only had I shelved books about the Loch Ness monster, but I'd seen books on bee farming, biographies on every president, books that taught someone how to build an outhouse, and books on knowing whether or not someone had been abducted by aliens.

We spanned out, each taking a wall of shelves. I scanned the many spines; nothing popped out, unless eel fishing had suddenly become this year's gripping novel. I had reached a corner of the room when I paused. Drifting my hand across the wooden divide between the shelves, I felt the faintest breeze.

"Hey guys, I think there's something back here." I called. I felt around the wood and found a handle.

"Don't tell me there's a hidden passage way." Ziggy snorted. "That's beyond cliché."

I yanked on the handle and part of the book case swung open to reveal a narrow flight of stair leading downward.

"That sure looks like a hidden passage way." Raf said.

"After you Zig-zag." I chirped.

Ziggy eyed the stairs. "Ladies first."

"Brains before beauty." I retorted.

"That's not fair; I have both." Ziggy whined.

I rolled my eyes and shoved him toward the entrance. We slowly walked down the steps. The air became cooler as we progressed and the walls became damp.

"Does this thing lead all the way into the loch?" Zig-zag asked incredulously.

"It just might." I said, picking up the distant sound of lapping water.

The passage ended in a small cavern. Half the cave was beach the other was water. My guess was that it led out into the loch; many underwater caves lined Loch Ness. Along the shore was what appeared to be a sort workstation, at least what used to be one. Tables were smashed and book shelves had been overturned. The place looked like it had been ransacked. As I walked among the wreckage I noticed giant claw marks on the ground and along the walls. They were_ huge_. Whatever made them was bigger than I was in dragon mode, which did nothing to make me feel secure. I knelt to examine the marks, hands tracing the gashes. There seemed to be two different sizes…two different sets.

"Hey Val, take a look at this." Raf called, snapping me out of my thoughts.

He was holding a very decrepit book.

Raf handed it to me. "I found this on the ground."

I flipped through the pages, frowning as I looked at the strange writing. "What language is this?"

"Old Gaelic, I think." Raf said. "That was the language of the Celts who lived here and Ireland, different dialects though."

"Well, whatever it is, I can't make heads or tails of it." I said.

"But look at the pictures." Raf said.

I scanned the various sketches of the loch, old wood-cut prints of people working in fields and hunting along the loch. Then I flipped to a page that really got my attention. The image was that of a robed man standing on an island. The man had his hands clasped and appeared to be chanting. Beneath his feet was a monster trapped in the rocks. It had bulbous yellow eyes, a long neck, snarling jaws filled with razor sharp teeth. Basically not a creature you'd want to run into in a dark alley. Still, there was something familiar about it.

"It looks the same as the old sketches of the Loch Ness monster." Raf said.

I frowned. "You're right. But this makes no sense; this shows the monster being imprisoned, but from what I've heard, the Loch Ness monster has lived in this lake for centuries."

"Then why does this show an ancestor of Brigid and Caelan trapping it?" Raf asked, pointing to the robed man who had the same eyes as his descendants.

Something definitely wasn't right. "I think we'd better take this along with us."

"Oh no, no, you're not stealing anything!" Zig-zag protested.

"It's not stealing, it's borrowing until this investigation is finished." I said.

"You got a warrant?" Ziggy challenged.

I raised the book and whapped it upside Ziggy's head, making him stumble back. "That's my warrant."

"You're a very abusive friend." Ziggy grouched.

"Lola would do the same thing." I pointed out. "Only she'd use a rock."

* * *

_ I was hovering over the loch in the middle of a storm. Lightning struck the water as the wind churned up massive waves. Directly beneath me was a small island. A hooded figure stood in the center of the island; it was the man from the book. The man was chanting, the words could barely be heard over the storm. _

_ Just then a massive creature burst from the water. It had a finned head atop a long neck; clawed, webbed feet dug into the dirt as it charged up the island toward the man, long tail smashing into the few trees. The man back until he reached the other shore. It looked like the monster had the man cornered. Just as it was about to strike, the man threw his hands upward and shouted several words. The ground beneath the creature shook and fell away, plunging the monster into a deep hole. The earth shifted again, covering the monster and its enraged roars. Several runes burned themselves into the ground, and then all was still. _

_"For ye crimes, Beast, may ye rot in that pit forever." The man whispered. _

* * *

I blinked into the bright sunlight. The old book lay beside me. After we'd returned from our little adventure, I'd poured over the pages for several hours, trying to decipher some clues from the text and pictures until I fell asleep. Groaning, I looked at the clock on the wall; it was just after eleven in the morning. Jet lag seriously sucked. I stretched and padded over to the glass doors. I opened them and stepped out onto the balcony. The sky was a bright blue, a gentle breeze drifted across the loch. There was no evidence of last night's rain; the loch seemed bright and cheerful.

Beneath me were Bumblebee and Que. I tried to comm them but got no reply. I laughed when I realized that they were both still in a deep recharge. I guess even 'Bots can suffer from jet lag. No doubt Ziggy and Raf were both knocked out as well. Sighing, I opened a comm link to base. I'd promised to send daily updates to the others. Of course, it was around two in the morning over there so I doubt that anyone would answer. But I'd leave a message all the same.

The comm pinged online.

:Hi guys, sorry it's so early. I just wanted to let you all know that—:

:Val?: A familiar deep baritone voice asked.

:Optimus? It's late—or really early—what the heck are you doing up?: I asked.

:I could not fall into recharge.: Optimus said.

:Worried about me?: I teased.

:And the rest of your group, yes.: Optimus replied.

:But mostly me.:

:Val.: Optimus said in a warning tone.

:Alright I'll quit for now.: I said. :But only because you need your rest and I don't want you up much longer. You _will_ recharge after this discussion.:

:Who is the leader here?:

:Who is the all-powerful dragon that can sic hundreds of spirits on you if you don't listen to her?: I challenged.

:Normally, I would not consider such a sentence to be threatening, or even possible, but seeing as it is coming from you, I must take it seriously.: Optimus said. :How has your journey been so far?:

I told him of our arriving at castle MacSharnon, meeting Brigid and Caelan, meeting Feoras.

:You do not like this man.: Optimus said after I'd described Feoras to him.

:Yeah, I'm not sure why, he's seems normal enough.: During the dinner he'd chatted lively with Raf and me, asking about what life was like in the States and talking about the different places to explore along the loch. He'd been charming and friendly yet I still couldn't shake that feeling.

:Trust your instincts.: Optimus advised. :They've kept you alive this long.:

:Was that a compliment?:

:Actually, yes, it was. But in all seriousness, be on your guard around him.:

:That's not all though.: I said then told him about finding the secret cavern and the dream I'd just had.

:So many pieces to this puzzle.: Optimus murmured. :Are you going to question Brigid about this?:

:No, not yet.: I said. :My instincts are telling me to keep this quiet for now.:

:Very well, what are your plans for today?:

:I'm heading to the towns and questioning some of the witness; I might also try to find that island.:

:Keep Raf safe, if there is even the slightest indication that he will be endangered, comm the base and send him home. And keep either Que or Bumblebee with you at all times when you go out.:

:Got it.: I said. :Now go hit the sack. Just because you miss me so much doesn't mean you can deprive yourself of rest.:

I could practically feel Optimus rolling his optics. :Just keep safe, Val.:

:Bye Optimus.:

I signed off and gazed out at the loch. What was really going on beneath those waves? Had the Loch Ness monster really been imprisoned? What about its calm disposition? Why was it attacking ships? What link did the MacSharnon's have to this?

I'd find answers, somehow.

Even if it meant diving down to the deepest, darkest part of the loch.

**Val does end up diving into the loch next chapter. Can't say more than that. **

** Until next chapter (which will hopefully be easier to write than this one), Goodbye!**


	4. Diving to Dog

**The following contains an extensive apology by the author of this fanfiction. If you wish to skip the apology, please scroll down. **

**I AM SO SORRY! I swear, I didn't mean to make you all wait this long! I had this chapter half-way written and then all these school projects suddenly showed up (or maybe they were there for awhile and I, being a terrible procrastinator, just ignored them until the deadline was practically yelling at me), and then there was this mess with the short story I submitted to my school's literary magazine, and then my schedule was filled up with practicing for the big spring concert that my school's orchestra does, and then my dog developed a real bad limp in her leg that we're worried about, and I was still dealing with writer's block, so it all just went blegh! So please, PLEASE forgive me! **

**Ok *takes deep breath* crazy rant over. **

**To make up for the extra long wait, I wrote an extra long chapter, over 6,000 words and 23 pages on microsoft (holy crap. yeah, this might take awhile to read). Some parts may seem a bit choppy due to writer's block, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. **

**I don't own transformers. **

"I told ya I don't know nothin'. Now leave me the hell alone!" And with that, yet another door was slammed in our faces.

"_Don't know nothing_ is a double negative." Zig-zag grumbled. "Learn some decent grammar you Scottish bast—" He glanced at Raf and swallowed his curse. "—butthead."

I sighed. "Well, today certainly has been productive. I think I can now recognize the different species of trees they use to build the doors. This one was made out of cherry."

We'd spent the day traveling around to the various towns of Loch Ness. Lot of good that did us, none of the locals wanted to talk. There was an air of fear about the people, like they suspected at any moment their old superstitions and stories would leap up from the back of their consciousness and take true form. Which in reality, it kind of was. So I couldn't blame them for not wanting to talk. But that didn't mean that I didn't find it annoying as hell.

I sighed again, glancing up at the setting sun. "I guess we should be getting back to the castle."

Bee suddenly sent me a comm. :Val, there's an old human who's hitting my tires with a cane. What should I do?:

:Just hang tight, we'll be there in a minute.: I replied.

I turned to the others. "There's some geezer harassing Bee, we'd better go."

We walked quickly back to where we'd parked. Sure enough there was an old man hobbling around Bumblebee, occasionally lifting his cane to rap on Bee's tires or hood. Bee seemed to have had enough of it and set off his alarm. The old man jumped back and started swearing.

:Bee, cut it out.: I said. :We don't want to give the man a heart attack.:

:He asked for it.: Bumblebee grumbled, cutting off the alarm.

The man looked up as we approached. "So you're the ones that have been askin' around about the attacks."

Zig-zag crossed his arms. "Yeah. So?"

"These are you're cars?" He gestured to Bee and Que. "Typical of you Americans, choosing style over substance. This thing will barely last a year." He slapped his cane across Bumblebee's hood again. I could practically feel the agitation radiating off of the yellow 'Bot.

"It's tougher than you think." Raf said.

"Sir, I don't know what you want, but we'd very much appreciate it if you'd step away from the cars so we can leave." I said, slowly approaching him.

With a speed I would've not thought possible for someone his age; the man grabbed my arm, gripping it tight. "You're like them." The man whispered.

I stiffened. "Like _who_?"

"The MacSharnons." The man hissed. "You see things like them. I know why you're here."

"And what am I here for?" I asked.

"To get rid of _her_."

"The monster you mean." I said,

"She's no such thing!" the man cried indignantly.

I raised my eyebrows. "And how would you know?"

The man scowled at me. "I ain't got nothin' more to say to you. You're workin' for those MacSharnons."

"Val, let's just leave the nut job to his ramblings." Zig-zag said.

I held out my hand, silently telling him to wait. This man obviously knew something, and if it helped solve this case, I was going to find out what it was.

"I'm not working for the MacSharnons." I said in my best authoritative tone. "My job is to simply stop these attacks before they draw too much attention or someone is killed. I have no intention of harming the, uh, creature. In a way, you could say that I'm working for Nessie."

"Ailis, her name is Ailis." the man grumbled. "She was never fond of that nickname."

Silence stretched out for several minutes as we stared at the old timer.

"Whoa, hold up there, you've actually talked to the Loch Ness monster?" Zig-zag asked incredulously.

"How?" Raf asked.

"As easily as I'm talkin' to you." The man sighed, glancing over his shoulders. "This isn't a good place to discuss this. Follow me, quickly, before I come to my sense and chase you lot off." He hobbled off down a dusty street.

"All those in favor of not following the psycho grandpa, say aye." Zig-zag said. "Aye."

"Nay." I said and started to follow the man.

"Val, you can't be serious." Zig-zag grabbed my shoulder. "This guy has clearly blown on the bagpipes one too many times."

"He knows something." I said.

Ziggy groaned. "This is one of those stupid gut instincts, isn't it?"

"Yep."

"You don't even have a gut anymore!" he protested.

"I think Val's right." Raf chimed in quietly. "We should follow him."

"Thank you Raf, you're now my new best friend." I stuck my tongue out at Zig-zag. "Ziggy you've now been replaced."

I started walking away with Raf beside me.

"That's real mature, Val." Ziggy called.

I ignored him and kept walking.

:Are you sure you know what you're doing?: Bee asked.

:Not really. I never do. But we need answers and this guy seems to have a few.: I replied.

:Just be careful.:

:You're starting to sound like Optimus.: I teased.

Footsteps thudded behind us as Zig-zag came running up.

"You guys suck, you know that?" he panted.

"You could've stayed behind with Bumblebee and Que." I said.

"And miss all the crazy crap? Not a chance." Ziggy snorted.

"Hurry up now." The man called. "I'm the old one here, yet I'm moving faster than all of you."

We followed him down the narrow street lined with small cottages. He hobbled to the entrance of a little stone cottage, opening the door and beckoning us in. The house was small but well-kept; the little kitchen, though worn, was spotless; a couch covered with miss-matching pillowed faced a television that hadn't been in style since the early seventies; a squat little wood stove and an rickety armchair sat in a corner; hung along the walls were sketches and watercolor paintings of the loch during the different seasons. Overall: not bad for an old timer.

"I'm Valerie by the way." I said, taking a seat on the lumpy couch. "This is Raf, and the paranoid albino is Zig-zag."

Raf raised his hand in a shy wave while Ziggy sent me a death glare.

"Darcy Afton." The man grunted, stooping to start a fire in the stove.

Zig-zag snorted and I kicked him in the shins. "So I hate to beat around the bush, but how exactly do you know Ness—Ailis?"

Darcy sighed and settled into the armchair. "I probably know her better than anyone, more than those stuck-up MacSharnons. They don't give a rat's soggy bottom what happens to her."

"Yeah, Caelan MacSharnon doesn't really care for this place." Raf said.

Darcy snorted. "The young one? Hah! Of course she doesn't care, all young people have a problem with quiet places like this; they can't stay in one place for too long, always need to be moving. No, I'm talking about the elder."

"Brigid MacSharnon?" I asked.

"Doesn't even deserve to carry the family name." Darcy spat. "Never cared about Ailis. From what I know all the MacSharnons have kept some sort of communication with Ailis, but as soon as Brigid took the reins she cut off all connections."

That was certainly an interesting tid-bit of information. "And how do you know all of this? How did you come to be uh friends with Ailis?"

The old timer chuckled. "It's a bit of a long tale."

"We've got some time." I said.

"And I don't really want to go back to that creepy castle." Raf said.

Darcy leaned back in his chair, a faraway look in his eyes. "It was my tenth birthday and my parents had given me a little red sailboat, my Pa had made it himself."

"Oh great, here comes the monologue." Zig-zag grumbled.

I kicked him again. "Sorry, about Ziggy, we're still teaching him manners. Please continue."

"I had taken the boat out that day, all on my own. I spent hours out on the loch, never noticed the sky, never saw the storm coming until it was right on top of me. The middle of the loch is not the place you want to be in a swell. My boat capsized, I tried to hold onto the wreck and when that failed I tried to swim to shore. I never stood a chance. Before I knew it, I was under several feet of water, didn't know which way was up and which was down. Just as I was figuring on dying, I bumped into something. Thinking it was a rock, I grabbed hold. But rocks didn't move. Whatever had me pulled me up and I broke the surface and got a good look at what'd saved me." Darcy chuckled. "I'll admit, I damn near pissed myself when I first saw her. Actually, far as I remember, I lost consciousness, 'cause the next thing I knew I was on the shore. Thought it all was a dream, 'til I saw her peeking up from the shallows. Never really understood why she stuck around. I guess she just really needed a friend. Still, it took several months before she'd actually speak to me."

"And what, you just became buddy-buddy with the Loch Ness Monster?" Zig-zag asked skeptically. "I'm sorry, but someone would've noticed you're little chit-chat sessions with a giant amphibious creature."

Darcy's eyes flicked to a sketch. I followed his gaze to see a picture of a dark grey horse standing at the water's edge. Looking at the image brought a memory from Ella's lesson to mind.

"That's a picture of her isn't it?" I asked Darcy.

He nodded.

"The horse?" Raf asked.

"Kelpies are shape-shifters." I said. "They often take the form of a horse or a youth. In fact, kelpies are more often referred to as water horses."

"Done your homework." Darcy said.

Ziggy jumped up to examine the sketch. "So you're telling me that horse is the Loch Ness Monster?"

"Beautiful isn't she?" Darcy sighed.

"Uh yeah, gorgeous." I said. "Mr. Afton, when was the last time you saw Ailis?"

The old man's brow furrowed. "Several weeks ago, a little less than a month I think. It was a strange thing; she'd been all ecstatic and joyous over some sort of awakening of some sort, something about the Old Mother."

I nodded. "That would've been around the time that Gaea gained full control."

Darcy tilted his head questioningly. "Gaea? Why on earth are we talking about Greek gods for?"

"Long story short; she's sort of my boss." I said. "Please continue."

"Well, the last time I saw her, she most definitely was not happy. She was nervous; borderline terrified if you ask me. I tried to get her to tell me but she left too soon, saying something about checking the prison."

I stiffened. "Prison?"

Darcy nodded. "That's what she said, though I'm not sure what she meant by that."

I reached into my bag and brought out the book. "I think I do. Mr. Afton, I don't suppose you can read this?"

He flipped through the pages. "Bits, my granddad taught me some when I was a lad." He paused at the page with the image of the man trapping the monster. Darcy paled at the sight, eyes quickly scanning the page. He swore loudly. "Curse me for a fool! Now I understand."

"Don't suppose you could share with the rest of us?" Zig-zag grumbled.

"This shows the history of one of the first MacSharnons." Darcy said. "And his imprisoning of the Beast, or so the book calls it."

"It's not Ailis, is it?" Raf asked.

Darcy shook his head. "No this creature is most definitely not her, but it's just as old."

"What exactly is it?" Ziggy asked.

"A male kelpie." Darcy whispered, a trace of fear in his tone.

Ziggy snorted. "Ok, it's a guy Loch Ness Monster. What's the big deal?"

"Foolish boy," Darcy snapped. "Males kelpies are the worst of their kind; they're vicious, conniving, bloodthirsty creatures. I assume you've heard about some of the darker tales of kelpies?" he asked, turning to look at me.

I frowned in thought. "Something about drowning."

"Yes, that's how they liked to kill their victims. They'd take the form of a horse or beautiful youth and lure young women and children into the water, once there they'd drown their victims then eat the poor soul's heart and liver."

Zig-zag's face was tinged green. "They ate a human's heart and liver?"

"And I thought haggis was gross." Raf squeaked.

"So the eldest MacSharnon gets wind of this guy and traps him in an island." I muttered in thought. "So the main question is how did he escape?"

"We'd have to go to the island to figure that out." Raf said.

"No, Ziggy and I will have to go to the island. You are going to be staying as far away from the water and any horses as possible." I said, thinking that I might have to send him back to Nevada soon. "If it is this male kelpie that's attacking the ships, it probably won't be too long before he goes after easier prey."

"We don't even know what island the prison is on." Ziggy said.

"There's only one island on Loch Ness." Raf said. "Cherry Island."

Darcy shook his head. "Nay boy, that's a crannog; an artificial island built centuries ago." He tapped the pages of the book with a wrinkled finger. "But it's not old enough to have been around in old MacSharnon's time. There was only one natural island that existed here."

"_Was_?" I asked.

Darcy nodded grimly. "Dog Island. It sat near the southern end of the loch, not far from where Cherry Island is, until it was submerged when the Caledonian Canal was built in 1822. Now it lies several meters under water. It was a common tale, when I was a child, that the waters around the sunken island were haunted. Now I see there is some fact behind that fiction."

"That's where we need to go." I said.

"No, where we need to go is back to sanity-land." Zig-zag wrung his hands. "You can't seriously be considering diving into the loch to look for some ancient magic prison that may or may not hold a vicious kelpie who may or may not be prowling through said loch looking for its next meal which may or may not be you."

I rolled my eyes. "I thought you were excited to go Loch Ness Monster hunting."

Ziggy huffed and crossed his arms. "Yeah well, that was before I found out that the monster we're hunting is an ancient homicidal _Jurassic Park_ reject."

"But you really should make sure the kelpie hasn't escaped, because if it did, you can bet it's gonna go after the MacSharnons. That includes Caelan." Raf said.

At the mention of Caelan, Ziggy paused and seemed to think it over; reason battling with infatuation. I wanted to applaud Raf for his quick thinking.

Ziggy groaned and slapped a hand across his forehead. "Fine. Just do me a favor: if I get eaten, tell Caelan I went out fighting."

"I really don't think she'd care, but ok." I said then turned to Darcy. "I understand that divulging such a precious secret to complete strangers wasn't easy, and I want you to know that we appreciate your help very much. You've given us our first real lead in this case."

He nodded solemnly, "Just find Ailis."

Darcy tried to hand the book back but I shook my head. "It'll do us no good since we can't read it. Besides, I can't think of anyone who'd appreciate the story more than you."

We said our goodbyes and left the man in his cottage. As we walked back to Bumblebee and Que, my mind mulled over the new information. The need to solve this case had just intensified. Especially after giving the Loch Ness Monster an identity. Now she wasn't some mystery hidden in the loch, she was a missing person, someone who was desperately missed by loved ones.

:So it's safe to assume you haven't been off-lined by that eccentric human?: Que asked when we came into few of the two Autobots. His tone sounded just the slightest bit bored, and I felt a pang of guilt for having them sit in their alt-modes all day long.

:I'm sorry we kept you guys waiting. I know it's probably killing you being stuck doing curbside duty for this entire trip.: I said over the comm as I climbed into Bumblebee's driver seat.

:It's ok.: Bee chirped. :Besides it's a nice change of pace from being shot at by Decepticons.:

I chuckled. :Well hopefully the pace will pick up a bit now; we have a new lead.:

I filled them in as we drove to the southern end of the loch. The trip had taken over an hour and by the time we'd arrived the sun was a mere sliver over the horizon and to make matters worse storm clouds were gathering along the eastern edge of the sky and approaching fast. We pulled off the road and parked. Through the trees I could see Cherry Island, a small slab of stone and pine trees only a few hundred feet in diameter. The water around it seemed tranquil, yet there was something that brushed ever so slightly against my sense, the tiniest hint of evil. I squinted, trying to see some sort of outline of Dog Island under the water, but the island was down too deep.

I sighed, taking my jacket off. "Well there looks like there's only one way to get to it."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I've seemed to have forgotten to pack my scuba gear." Zig-zag snorted. "I'm not getting within ten feet of that water."

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't expect you to. You and Raf can go wait back with Bee and Que."

"Wait, I want to stay here." Raf protested.

"I know, but you also need to stay safe. And being so close to the water with a homicidal kelpie possibly on the loose is not safe." I said.

:How about a middle ground?: Bee whirred. There was a sound of transformation then he walked over to us closely followed by Que. :This way Raf and Ziggy and keep safe, we can watch your back, and we get out of our alts for a bit.:

I sighed in resignation. "Fine, but if you see any splashing, and I'm not the one doing it, shoot."

Bee mock saluted. :Aye-aye, captain.:

"Are you going to change to bi-pedal mode?" Que asked.

I shook my head. "I'm gonna try and keep it in Pretender for as long as I can. But if push comes to shove I'll make the change."

"And how are you supposed to hold your breath?" Ziggy asked skeptically.

"Uh Zig-zag, Val technically doesn't need to breathe." Raf pointed out. "None of them need to."

"Seriously? When were you going to tell me about this, Val?"

"Uh, never?" I said, yanking off my shoes and socks. "It didn't seem like that big of a deal. I mean: I see the dead, I turn into a robotic dragon, I breathe fire, and I can summon ancient spirits. Does it really seem that important compared to all that other crap?"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Ziggy grumbled.

I walked towards the water and stuck my toes in, shivering at the chill. A few more steps in and my jeans were soaked up to my knees, the water already making them heavy.

"_Duh-dah…duh-dah…duh-dah-duh-dah-duh-dah_…"

Without even bothering to turn my head, I called back. "Zig-zag, if you don't stop singing the theme to _Jaws _I'm gonna have Anansi put millions of spider eggs in your bed that'll hatch and crawl all over you while you sleep."

That shut him up.

I walked up till the water reached my waist. Pausing, I took several calming breaths then plunged into the loch.

One good thing to know about Loch Ness: it's murky as hell. I could barely see five feet in front of me. I didn't see the island until I nearly crashed into it. The island was really no more than an elevated slab of rock now, maybe four or five hundred feet in diameter. What little sunlight that managed to cut through the water was now fading fast, so I had to work quickly. I swam slowly along the island, noticing the ancient Gaelic markings, faded and worn from time. The visibility conditions got so poor I eventually had to close my eyes and use my hands to guide me. The stone was smooth beneath my fingertips, almost unnaturally so. I was starting to grow frustrated when my hands plunged into an open space. Opening my eyes, I expected to see a giant crater blown out of the side of the island. Instead there was only an opening about the size of a city manhole, just big enough for a human to fit through.

I opened the comm link. :Well I found…something.:

:What is it?: Bee asked.

:An opening, I guess. But it seems too small for the monster I saw in my vision.:

:You did say that this creature can change its forms.: Que pointed out. :So the size of the opening would not matter. The important thing is that the creature did escape. Your question has been answered, now I suggest you return to the surface before something down there decides to make a meal out of you.:

Still I lingered by the hole. :There's something wrong with it. If the kelpie had simply broken out of its bindings there'd be more damage to the island; fractured stone and such. This opening is…too neat.: I ran my hands around the edges, noting the smooth texture. :The rock isn't broken, it's more like it's been melted away. This was deliberate. I think…: I didn't like the idea that was forming in my mind.

:Think what?: Que asked.

:I think the kelpie had help escaping.: I said. :That's the—: I froze when I felt a dark chill race up my back.

:Val, what's wrong?: Bee chirped worriedly.

:Hold your positions up there.: I ordered. :Don't go near the water.:

They tried to protest but I closed the comm link. Flattening myself against the stone, I squinted into the gloom. There was nothing to see, yet that anxious feeling persisted, if anything, it grew stronger. Suddenly a flash of light from above briefly lit up my surroundings, a muffled rumble of thunder followed soon after. I looked up at the surface of the loch some thirteen or fourteen feet above me. Another bolt of lightning lit up the sky. And it illuminated the massive silhouette of an approaching creature.

The feeling of anxiety soon turned to one of fear as the figure got closer. It twisted as effortlessly through the water as I would the sky. I finally got a good look at it as a third flash of light bolted down from the clouds. It was the same kelpie from my vision. I may not have been an expert on kelpie recognition but I knew it was him. He swam calmly toward the island. An aura of power radiated off him. This guy could probably bite a Decepticon in two by the time it took someone to sneeze. He was, well, a killing machine. And he enjoyed doing it, I could just feel it.

I needed to get out of there. Desperately running through my arsenal of powers, I tried to think of how to get away. Bast? Ha, a cat goddess underwater, that'd never work. Anansi wouldn't be any help either. Zephyros and Euros were useless as well; the wind spirits could do nothing for me here. I wanted to smack myself for not thinking to form a contract with some sort of water spirit. I couldn't transform either; it would take too long and attract too much attention. That and the creature was more than twice my size. The kelpie didn't seem to have noticed me, but he was almost directly above me, blocking me from swimming to the surface.

Feeling incredibly closed in, something inside me just snapped and for a moment the dragon in me took control. I needed out, I needed to be in the sky. My nails dug into the stone and I lifted my head toward the kelpie, opening my mouth to breath fire. Too late, I came to my senses and realized my mistake. I couldn't breathe fire while in Pretender mode and worse, I was beneath the water, so when I opened my mouth, instead of flames coming out, a deluge of water came _in_.

Figures, Autobots didn't need to breath, yet I'd be the first to somehow manage drown.

On instinct, I began to thrash, trying to swim to the surface as the water filled my system, causing me to become sluggish. The kelpie turned and spotted me. A look of dark amusement lit up its eyes, and I knew I was screwed.

Suddenly Bee burst through the comm link. :Val, you need to get out of there now!:

:No…kidding, kelpie is…right…in front…of…me.: my message was going in and out as the water messed with my systems.

:No, that's not it. Well, yes that's part of it. But I'm talking about Que, he's about to—:

Just then there was a small splash just above the kelpie, and a small blinking device sunk slowly towards the creature.

Oh, shit. I swam as fast as I could away from the blinking bomb of doom. I glanced back to see the kelpie closing in fast.

A blinding flash of light, the water heated up, and suddenly a found myself shooting out of the loch like I had been stuffed inside a water cannon. The blast tossed me several feet up in the air.

_"Zephyros, Euros, get me to land now!" _I cried out and soon I was rocketing through the air back towards the others.

Unfortunately the wind spirits overshot, and instead of landing near the others, I found my face meeting a fir tree. I fell some fifteen feet to the ground, hitting every single freaking branch on the way down. Once on land, I began coughing up water, purging my body of the liquid. I rolled onto my back to find the others looking down at me.

"So how was the swim?" Ziggy asked with a smirk.

:I think Val tried to swallow half the loch.: Bee whirred.

I let out a chuckled that caused me to cough up more water. Sitting up, I turned to Que. "Remember what I told you about not bringing explosives?"

Que nodded apprehensively.

"Well you can completely forget that I ever said that. Your bomb just saved my bum."

"So did that destroy the kelpie?" Raf asked.

Thunder rumbled overhead.

"I don't think so." I sighed. "That would be too easy. No, I reckon all we did was just piss him off."

"So the hunt continues." Que murmured.

Just then the lightning lit up the sky and rain began to fall in a heavy torrent.

"So much for trying to get dry." I sighed and stood up. "We need to get to Castle MacSharnon and give them a heads up on the situation."

"And I need to get my things to go back to Nevada." Raf said in a resigned tone.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but it's starting to get a little too dangerous." I said.

Raf nodded. "I understand, and I don't want to be in the way of you solving this case."

I ruffled his hair. "You haven't been in the way yet. In fact you've been a big help. More than Zig-zag that's for sure."

"I heard that!" Ziggy huffed.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's get going. We'll contact base on the way back."

* * *

I frowned as static filled the comm link. "I'm not having any luck getting through. How about you guys."

:Nothing.: Bee said.

:It's the storm, it's causing a disruption in the long distance link.: Que informed us. :We'll have to wait for it to pass.:

I looked out the driver's side window at the black clouds and the thrashing trees. "This thing looks like it's going to take a while to clear."

"There's something I don't understand." Raf murmured quietly from the passenger seat. "From what we know, the monster has been free for several weeks. How come it hasn't attacked the MacSharnon's yet?"

"Probably bidding it's time." Zig-zag said through the open comm. "It's most likely plotting some twisted way to get its revenge."

_Plotting some twisted way to get its revenge. _Those words bounced around inside my head for a moment. If I the kelpie and I were trapped for hundreds of years I'd certainly find time to plot my revenge. I wouldn't want to just kill them; I'd want to make them suffer. But how would I do it? Capture and torture? Or would it be more psychological? Like, say, getting close to a member of the family, gaining their trust, learning their secrets.

My hands tightened around the steering wheel as my brain put two and two together.

:What's wrong?: Bee asked.

"I think I figured out who our kelpie is." I said.

"Care to share Scooby-Doo?" Ziggy asked.

Bee suddenly slammed on the brakes, tires squealing against the wet road. Que, not far behind us, did the same. Illuminated by Bee's headlights was a familiar but half burned figure.

"Feoras." I muttered.

His stance was casual, and he wore an easy grin. But his hair was singed and fresh burn marks covered his bare chest and right arm.

"Stay here." I said to Raf.

I stepped into the pouring rain and walked around to stand in front of Bee. Despite the seriousness of the situation, I couldn't help but note what Feoras was wearing.

"Nice skirt." I said.

Annoyance flashed through his eyes but he didn't lose his smile. "In Scotland we call this a kilt."

"Well, in America we call that a skirt. And what the heck is it made out of seaweed? Or is it lake-weed—er—loch-weed?"

Feoras twitched a bit. "Are we going to speak about my apparel or discuss more important matters?"

"What kind of important matters? Like your taste for human hearts, or your plot to destroy the MacSharnon's?" I asked.

"My business between the MacSharnon clan do not concern you. And as for my what I like as a meal…well what can I say? It's in my nature."

I clenched my hands. "It wasn't in Ailis' nature."

Feoras smiled. "Ah yes, my dear Ailis."

"Where is she?" I demanded.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "What does it matter? She's probably dead by now."

I growled as energy coursed through me. My spark thrummed as an ethereal representation of the Star Saber formed in my hands.

Feoras took a step back, eying the blade warily. "My, my, you summoned a weapon. From what I hear not many of your kind can do that now a days."

"I'm old school."

"You know, it didn't have to be this way. If you had just left then I wouldn't have to eliminate you. But alas, you're just too curious for your own good." Feoras sighed. "Still, at least some good will come of this; that boy of yours likes rather tasty."

Behind me Bumblebee revved his engine angrily. :Kill that fragger!: Bee all but snarled. It was the single most violent thing I'd ever heard Bee say.

"Will do." I growled then lunged forward, slashing at Feoras.

He jumped back but not before I'd managed to nick his burned arm.

He let out a hiss of pain. "So you want to play then?"

His skin began to stretch and shift as he twisted, his limbs seeming to pop out of alignment, his neck stretching to a gruesome length. I ran toward Feoras hoping to strike while he was vulnerable like that, but he was quicker than I anticipated. I had to roll to the side to avoid being crushed by a giant webbed claw. The kelpie stood before us, every bit as terrifying out of water as he was in it.

:What's the plan?: Bee asked.

:You two are going to get Ziggy and Raf out of here. Get to the highlands, as far away from the loch as you can.: I said.

:But what about—:

:I'll be fine. I've handled worse than this creep. And besides, he's injured and out of his element. Don't worry about me. Wait till there's an opening then gun it out of here.:

:But—:

:That's an order.:

Feoras lunged at me. I jumped back and he followed, leaving the road partially clear.

"Now!" I yelled.

Tires squealing, Bumblebee and Que raced away. I had a brief moment to feel relieved before I had to dodge a whip-like tail. Feoras snapped his teeth at me. I danced forward and sliced at his nose. He drew back in a hiss.

_"You have some skill."_ He noted.

"Would you believe I never took a single fencing lesson in my life?" I jumped back to avoid his claws.

_"There is something odd about you." _Feoras mused as he tried to bite my leg. _"A certain presence. It's powerful. I wonder what you really are?" _

I gritted my teeth as I blocked his attack. "You really want to know?"

I spotted an open space several yards away, large enough for me to make my own transformation. I knew what Optimus had said, but changing to my true form might be the only way to beat this guy.

I took off running, preparing to shift. But lady luck decided to pull a cruel joke and I slipped on the wet road. I landed flat on my face, my sword skidding several feet away before disappearing. A deep chuckle echoed behind me. I turned to see Feoras standing over me, a malicious smile spread over his reptilian face.

_"You certainly get points for trying." _

The roar of an engine echoed in the night air. I looked up to see a large set of headlights heading our way. The light stunned Feoras long enough for me to roll out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. I caught a glimpse of a familiar red and blue paint job as the semi rammed into the kelpie, right where the burn marks were. There was a sickening crunch and Feoras bellowed in pain, his front right leg, bent at an odd angle, appeared to be broken.

The door to the semi opened. "Get in."

I didn't need telling twice. Scrambling into the cabin, I all but flung myself into the seat. The door slammed shut and we raced away.

"You know, when I said that I might need you to save me from the big bad monster, I was only joking." I said as I leaned against the seat.

"You have a rather twisted sense of humor then." Optimus rumbled. "Because what just happened back there was not amusing."

"You need to get out more then." I groaned as I rubbed a sore spot on my arm. "How'd you know we needed help? None of our messages could get through."

"I am not sure. I suppose you could call it a…"

"Gut instinct?" I finished for him. "Yeah, I get those a lot. Don't worry; they're not life-threatening. But I'm guessing you left without telling anyone, so we shouldn't expect more backup."

"Unfortunately the base was unoccupied when I bridged over."

"Well that's just peachy."

"So I assume that creature was the one you came to hunt?" Optimus asked.

"Actually no. The creature that I came looking for is M.I.A, possibly D.O.A, and I.D.K what I'm supposed to do next." I had to explain some of the acronyms to Optimus.

"We must regroup with the others." Optimus said. "Then perhaps we can devise a plan."

"The storm has been causing some interference, but the short range comm should be working." I said. "I told Bee to high-tail it up to the hills, away from the loch. Kelpies can't last too long out of water."

"What of the MacSharnon's, have they been warned?"

"No but…" I paused, thinking of everything I'd learned today. "I can't help but think that the person we should really be looking out for is Ailis."

"Who?"

I sighed. "I fill you in when we meet up with the others. If Ziggy or Raf have their cell phones on them, I'll have them call Castle MacSharnon and give them a warning. But right now, I really need to find the Loch Ness Monster. The _good _one."

Optimus was quiet for a moment. "I don't not like the idea of putting humans in danger, but I trust your judgement."

"Thank you." I said. "I just have a feeling that Nessie—I mean Ailis—holds the last piece of the puzzle."

I only hoped that she would be alive to give it to us.

**Looks like Optimus managed to come after all. **

** The next few weeks are gonna be a bit crazy for me, what with finals and graduation and all that jazz, so I'm not sure when I'll update next. At the latest would be end of June, hopefully I'll update before then. Thanks so much for sticking with the story, you're all awesome. I'm so sorry for the wait. **

**Sincerely, **

**Wolfwitch**


	5. Revelations in the Highlands

**Alright, I said I'd update before the end of June, and look, I did! Yay me! Now that it's summer vacation (and I have yet to find a summer job '—.— ) the updates should be coming sooner. Now without further ado, here's chapter five! **

**I don't own Transformers. **

"Stupid!"

_Thwack _

"Stupid!"

_Thwack _

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

_Thwack _

"Will you quit punching inanimate objects?" Zig-zag sighed as I yet again pummeled the stone wall of the abandon cottage that we'd taken refuge in. The little house was high in the hills, several miles from the loch. The cottage consisted of a main room, where a rickety wood stove sat in a corner, and a small bathroom that held a grungy tub and sink that spat out brownish water, no toilet, and the whole place stank of sheep. Yeah, this trip was turning out to be just fan-freaking-tastic.

I turned to him, raising my fist threateningly. "Maybe I should move on to animate objects then, particularly ones that haven't done anything but complain the entire mission!"

"Can you blame me?" Zig-zag grumbled. "I've had to deal with jet lag, creepy castles, crazy old men, homicidal kelpies, and now we're stuck in the middle of the Scottish highlands without any means to contact the base, and no one is answering at castle MacSharnon, I'm cold, I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm scared shitless. So yeah, Val, I think I have the right to complain a bit!"

"This wasn't supposed to be some sort of vacation Zig-zag!"

"I know that! But if you had done your job right we wouldn't be in this situation!" Ziggy snapped.

"Done my job right?" I roared. "I don't even know what the hell my job is supposed to be at this point!"

Zig-zag shot to his feet. "You're the dragon, the _Spiritus_, the monster hunter; you should know what you're doing."

"Well guess what? I have no fragging clue. There's no instruction manual, no cheat sheet, I'm on my own with this. And I guess I just blew it." I threw my hands up, tilting my head back to yell at the moldy, wooden ceiling. "Hear that world? I messed up! I don't know what to do! I'm a pathetic loser who can barely keep her friends safe much less find them a five star hotel to stay at while we hide from a psychotic monster!"

"Stop it!" Raf shouted. "Please, both of you just stop fighting!" He looked so small and young, huddle by the wood stove where we'd managed to get a small fire lit.

I looked down at the floor guiltily, hands clenching and unclenching. It was my fault that Raf was stuck here, that both of them were stuck here. I turned toward the door, grumbling that I needed to get some fresh air. A light rain pelted my face as I walked out. Lightning stilled arced across the sky and thunder still shook the air, but at least the rain had slackened some. I passed Optimus where he was stationed in front of the house in vehicle mode, Bumblebee and Que had taken the other side of the cottage. The familiar whir of metal shifting echoed behind me as Optimus transformed, but I didn't look back. Anger, disappointment, and fear fueled my legs as I walked further and further from the cottage. Optimus walked silently behind me. Eventually I came to stop, but still those restless feelings zipped through me, stinging like a hive of hornets. Glancing down, I spotted a rock the size of a football. I picked it up, and with a grunt, I chucked it as far as I could. The stone sailed through the darkness, making a loud clattering sound when it hit the ground.

"Perhaps you should consider taking up lobbing as a pastime." Optimus said after a moment. "You have quite the talent for it."

I ran a hand through my hair. "This is my fault."

"You may have made a few mistakes during this mission, but I fail to see how our current situation is entirely of your doing."

"I should've recognized Feoras for what he was." I sighed. "I should've known. Ziggy was right, this is my job, my mission, my call, and look what's happened; I've put Raf and Zig-zag in danger, the MacSharnon's might be dead right now, and I needed you to save me from the big bad monster. Gaea placed me in charge of keeping these creatures in line, yet all I seem to do is screw up!"

I picked up another stone and drew my arm back to throw it, only to find something holding me back. Turning, I saw Optimus kneeling behind me, holding my upraised hand gently between his forefinger and thumb.

"Val, on your first assignment as an officer of the law, did you accomplish your given task without error?" he asked.

"What?"

"When you first became a cop, did you work without making any mistakes?"

"Hell no." I said. "In fact, on the first assignment I was given, I somehow ended up accidently handcuffing myself to a parking meter." The guys down at the station had gotten a big laugh out of that. "What's your point?"

"My point," he said, letting go of my hand. "Is that this is your first assignment, you cannot expect to complete it flawlessly. I certainly did not expect you to."

"Gee, that just killed off some of my self-esteem." I grumbled.

"But I do know that you will learn from these mistakes and gain experience. And you will find a way to solve this, I know you well enough to say that." Optimus continued. "Every Autobot on the team has started where you are now; inexperienced, confused, and a little frightened, myself included."

"What? Do mine ears hear correctly? The great Optimus Prime was once a rookie too?" I gasped in mock horror. "Blasphemous!"

He rolled his optics at my antics. "Believe me Val, I have made my share of mistakes, just ask Ratchet or Ironhide."

"I'm sure 'Hide would be more than happy to tell me all about your little mishaps."

"You will be listening for quite a while then; the list is long."

I smiled. "Thanks for the pep talk Boss Bot. It helped a bit and it's nice to have a conversation with you without you running away."

"As a member of my team, your wellbeing is important to me." Optimus said. "And I never ran away from you." He added with an offended huff.

"I beg to differ."

"I am a Prime, I do not _run away_."

"Ok then, you speed walk." I laughed and held out my hands, watching the rain splatter onto my palms. Thunder rumbled overhead. "Jeez this weather is miserable, even by Seattle standards. Still, it's probably the only way that these highlands get any wat—" I froze, staring at the water in my hands as several things clicked into place in my mind.

Optimus noticed my change. "Val, are you alright?"

I held up a hand. "Just give me a moment to work this though." I began to pace. "This place, the highlands…there are no bodies of water up here. No lakes, no ponds, no rivers, not even a bloody babbling brook, right?"

"Yes." Optimus said slowly.

"So the only way this place gets water is from rain, right?"

"It would appear so."

I paced faster. "Feoras told me that Ailis was probably dead by now. _Probably_. Which means she was still alive the last he saw her. Obviously he wants her to suffer. So if I were a homicidal kelpie trying to off another kelpie without making a big mess or attracting a lot of attention I'd use a known weakness. Like how kelpies can't survive long out of water."

Understanding dawned on Optimus' face. "The highlands have no large water source. The environment would be too harsh for a kelpie to survive."

I turn my head quickly; searching our surroundings "So Feoras immobilizes Ailis then drags her up here to dry out."

"How long can they survive out of water?"

"A several hours, a day at the most."

"Then we are too late, for she would have been trapped out here for several weeks."

I shook my head. "The rain, Feoras wasn't counting on it raining so much, or maybe he was and he hoped it would draw out Ailis' death. The heavy rain would be enough to keep her hydrated, just barely. Optimus, she could still be alive, she could be out here somewhere!"

"Your theory is a bit far-fetched but…"

"But it's the only thing I've got to go on right now." I said. Setting my jaw in determination, I summoned all the spirits I had. They appeared before me: two whirlwinds, a large spider, and a sleek cat who looked disgruntled at having to stand in the rain. "Alright everyone, it's search and rescue! We've got a kelpie at death's doorstep somewhere out here. Euros go east; Zephyros take the west; Bast head northwards while Anansi takes the south. Cover as much ground as you can; be quick but thorough when looking. Let's go!" I clapped my hands and the spirits scattered in their designated directions. I glanced back at Optimus. "We'll have a better chance if we split up."

He nodded and turned southeast. I went in the opposite direction, heading northwest, or at least the direction I thought was northwest. The rain fell harder as I traipsed over the rough terrain, my eyes scanning the landscape in a frantic search. My boot caught on a stone and I fell forward, bashing my right knee and skinning my palms. I cursed and wiped away the blue droplets of energon that seeped through the small cuts on my hands. Another downside to the Pretender mode: it was far more vulnerable than bi-pedal.

A soft meow made me glance up. Bast was standing in front of me, her fur puffed up in distress. "_This way, Lady." _

I limped after her, my knee throbbing slightly. :Optimus, Bast has found something.:

His reply was short. :I am on my way.:

Bast hissed to get my attention. _"Hurry, Lady." _

I followed her, the rain becoming heavier, making it even harder to see. I stumbled again, falling onto all fours. A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, illuminating the few feet in front of me.

Illuminating the body.

I stiffened when I saw it. "Oh no."

Despite the enormous amount of rain soaking the ground, the body before me was dry and brittle like a dead flower. The shriveled skin covered emaciated limbs; hair clung limp and lifeless to the scalp, a dress made of lake kelp cover the body which was wrapped in silver chains.

I knelt down beside the fragile form. "Oh please, please don't be dead."

There was no movement whatsoever. No sign of breathing.

I pressed my palms to my eyes. "We're too late."

I sat like that for a moment, letting the rain pelt me. Sighing, I rubbed my face and moved to grab the body; I couldn't just leave her out here. My hand touched her arm.

Her eyes snapped open.

I yelped and stumbled back. Bloodshot eyes stared at me for a moment then she began to thrash weakly against her bonds. Ailis looked more like a corpse than a kelpie, but she was alive. Somehow she was alive. Relief flooded through me as I tried to calm her, but she seemed beyond reason

"Ailis. Ailis! I'm here to help you." I pleaded as I grabbed her shoulders in an attempt to stop her from further injuring herself. "I'm a friend of Darcy."

She stilled. "Darcy?" her voice was dry like paper.

"Yes, Darcy. He sent me to find you. I'm going to get you out of here, ok? I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

Ailis opened her mouth to speak, but the words ended up in a hacking cough. "W-water. N-need water."

"I'll get you water." I said.

Grabbing her arms, I tried to lift her to somewhat of a standing position. Though she looked so frail and small, Ailis was incredibly heavy. The extra weight made my injured knee ache then give out completely, sending us sprawling on the ground.

"Figures," I hissed. "I can't take as many shots and hits from Decepticons and M.E.C.H. agents as I want, but then I get incapacitated by falling over a damn rock. Optimus!"

"I am here." He called out, emerging from the gloom.

Ailis took one look at him and started to panic.

"It's alright. It's alright, he's a friend." I whispered to her, squeezing her shoulder's in reassurance.

Optimus slowly knelt. "You found her."

"Well technically, Bast did. By the way, don't let me forget that I owe her a gallon of cream and a big bag of catnip when all this is over." I said. "But we need to get Ailis to water quickly. I can't carry her; I bashed my knee in. Don't suppose you could give us a lift?"

Optimus gently scooped us up in his palm. He turned and walked quickly over the treacherous sloped back towards the cottage. Meanwhile, I cupped my hands to collect the rain water then poured it into Ailis' mouth, hoping it would help some. The kelpie greedily gulped it down, like she was trying to breathe the water in instead of drinking it. The dim lights of the cottage came into few. Que and Bumblebee rushed out to us.

"What's happened?" Que asked.

"We've found Ailis." I said.

:Out there?: Bee asked, optics scanning the highlands in disbelief.

I nodded. "Bee, I need you to tell Raf to turn the water on in the tub, we need to get Ailis completely soaked. Que, get Zig-zag, I'll need his help to get her out of these chains and into the house."

They paused for a moment, looking to Optimus. I felt a flash of irritation but dismissed it. Optimus was the leader; he should have the final word.

"This is Valiant's mission." Optimus said. "You shall follow her."

They nodded and hurried off. I sent Optimus a grateful smile. "Thanks for giving up the reigns for a little while."

"I lack knowledge of occurrences like these, thus it is better for you to make the final call." Optimus said.

"Believe me; I don't know much more than you when it comes to stuff like this. I'm a rookie, remember?" I said as we approached the cottage's entrance.

Optimus knelt and gently laid us on the ground. "Give it time, Val."

Ziggy rushed out. "Que just told me you found the Loch Ness Monster." He looked at Ailis. "Or what's left of her, I should say."

I grimaced as I stood up. "Don't start, Zig-zag, just—"

"I know, help you get her out of those chains. Already on it." Ziggy held up a small disk. "Though you banned Que from bringing his toys, you didn't say anything about me. Looks like I'll finally be able to do something useful." He knelt down and fiddled with the chain. "This might sting a bit." He warned Ailis.

The disk sparked and sizzled then the chain snapped. We unwound it then together we hoisted Ailis up and half carried—half dragged her into the cottage. Stumbling into the bathroom, I saw Raf standing by the tub, rust specked water spewing from the facet. Carefully, Zig-zag and I placed Ailis in the water.

"This isn't nearly as good as the loch." I said. "But it's the best we got for now."

Ailis just flashed me a weary smile then sank into the water. Her eyes shut as she breathed in the water. We all slouched against the tub and just watched her for awhile.

Raf turned to me. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" I asked.

"How do you just go outside all angry in the middle of a storm then come back later bringing a missing kelpie?" Raf shook his head. "The odds of you just finding her out there are…well just impossible."

Ziggy snorted and started to laugh. I let out a chuckle too. "Kiddo, if there's one thing you need to know about me is this: odds and I don't get along. Now dumb luck? That I get along with just fine."

"Dumb luck." Raf repeated.

"I swear, Val, we need to take you to Vegas." Ziggy said. "We could make a fortune off of you. You'd just walk up to a slot machine, pull the lever, and win the jackpot in one try."

"And then I'd trip and send all the coins flying everywhere." I sighed. "My dumb luck usually comes with a price." I gestured to my knee which was now slowly bleeding energon.

Zig-zag shook his head. "Only you, Val."

"That looks pretty bad." Raf said.

I waved off his concern. "Believe me, I've gotten far worse. My self-repair systems should take care of most of the damage. But it's not gonna be fun transforming I can tell you that."

"So what do we do now?" Ziggy asked. "Storm castle MacSharnon with guns blazing?"

"Not until we find out who released Feoras and helped him capture Ailis." I said.

Both of them stared at me.

I sighed. "Feoras didn't escape from his prison on his own, there would've been far more damage to Dog Island if he did. Someone freed him."

"Another _Spiritus _maybe_? _Did the MacSharnons have any enemies?" Raf asked.

"It's possible." Ziggy said. "The MacSharnons have been around awhile, they could definitely have some bad blood between them and another family."

Raf frowned and rubbed his forehead. "But where would we begin to look? We don't have the time or the resource to search and question anyone."

"I think we need to consider the possibility that the perpetrator might be a MacSharnon." I said.

Raf's eyes widened. "You think Caelan…"

Zig-zag jumped up. "No way!"

"I'm not pointing fingers at anyone Ziggy, we just need to consider—"

"Consider nothing. You've had Caelan pegged for a baddie the moment you saw her." Zig-zag stormed out of the room.

I limped after him. "Well, she did slam a door in my face the first time we met."

"It makes sense, Ziggy." Raf said. "Caelan doesn't care about Ailis, she doesn't want anything to do with her family's past and responsibilities."

"And she is a truly unpleasant individual. Sorry to say it, Ziggy, but it's true." Que chimed in, peering through the open doorway to the outside. "My knowledge of human behavior may be limited, but that girl acts like she has a—how do you put it—a stick up her as—"

"Que, language." Optimus snapped.

:She is bound to Ailis like the rest of her family, which means she has to stay at the loch.: Be pointed out. :But if there was no Ailis…:

"Caelan would be free to leave." I finished. "So she frees Feoras, he finished off Ailis, and Caelan can leave."

"She has the powers to release Feoras and help capture Ailis." Optimus said. "I am sorry, Zig-zag, but it would appear all theories point to her."

Ziggy looked around helplessly. "She couldn't have. I just know it."

"Maybe she put a spell on you." Raf said.

:How do you break a spell?: Bee asked.

Raf shrugged. "I dunno, a bump on the head, an electric shock, a kiss?" He glanced my way.

I backed away from them. "Whoa, whoa! Don't look at me like that! I am not kissing Ziggy!"

"We could try electric shock." Que said. "I could rig something up—"

"Que, you are not shocking Zig-zag." Optimus scolded.

Que's shoulders sank. "Just a little?"

Optimus crossed his arms. "Must I start revoking lab privileges?"

"Guys, I'm not under a spell." Ziggy sighed, turning towards me. "Please, Val, is there anything else you haven't checked, anything."

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can try talking to Ailis, though she might not be able to say much."

Ziggy nodded; his face grim.

I hobbled back to the decrepit bathroom. Ailis rested beneath the water. She seemed to slowly be healing, but a grimace marred her face and her fingers twitched rapidly, no doubt reliving her trauma through nightmares. I reached down and gently shook her shoulder. Her eyes flickered open, no longer bloodshot. Slowly, she raised her head above the water.

"Ailis, I need to know, did anyone help Feoras take you?" I asked in a quiet voice.

Ailis recoiled at his name. "F-Feoras, h-he took me f-from the water. H-he left me out here to die."

"I know, but you're ok now." I soothed.

Ailis trembled. "He t-took me away from the water!"

Though she was much older than I, Ailis sounded like a frightened child. I couldn't imagine how terrifying it must've been for her, to be dragged from her home, her life source.

"Ailis, I need you to remember what happened when he took you." I said,

"I don't want to remember." She whimpered. "He took me away from the water!"

"Yes, but you survived." I said. "You lived long enough to be found, you beat him at his game. Now I need you to help us beat him. Please, there are lives at stake; all the people who live along the loch could be in danger, Darcy could be in danger."

Ailis stared at me. "I-I'll try." She closed her eyes tight. "I had been searching the loch all day, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Then I was summoned to the castle. I had thought that they had discovered Feoras' escape too; otherwise they wouldn't have called me. I went to the cave, ready to warn the MacSharnons, but…" she grimaced. "it was a trap! He was waiting for me. We fought, but he had strength and surprise on his side. He forced me into human form, bound me with chains, and then dragged me to the highlands, away from the water." Tears slipped out from beneath her eyelids.

"Ailis, was there anyone else in the cave? Was Caelan there?"

She gripped her head. "Caelan…Caelan…"

"Was Caelan in the cave?" I asked.

"Caelan…danger…Caelan…is in danger!" Ailis reached out and grabbed my hand. "You need to warn her!"

"She's in danger? From Feoras?"

"From Brigid." Ailis whispered.

"Brigid?"

"Brigid was the one who summoned me, she was in the cave, she just stood there, she even gave Feoras the chains." Ailis eyes were filled with pain and betrayal. "Brigid MacSharnon is the traitor."

* * *

Caelan struggled against the straps that bound her to the chair, spitting out a very unladylike stream of curses. How had this happen? One minute she'd been walking through the halls of the castle, fuming over Val's and the other's lack of punctuality, when she'd rounded the corner and felt a prick on her arm. Her head had become fuzzy; she had fallen into someone's arms and lost consciousness. And now she was in the cave beneath the castle. She recognized the work tables and stacks of books from when she used to come down here in her younger years. Caelan had never liked this place, too cold and creepy, it smelled of ancient times and reminded her of a crypt. But why was she here now? Who had put her here? Had someone broken into the castle? Was her grandmother alright?

"Oi!" she shouted, her voice bouncing off the stone walls. "What's going on here? Who put me here? Show yourself!" Those were probably not the smartest words for a hostage to say, but Caelan wasn't about to show that she was intimidated.

A chuckle echoed in the dark, a familiar dark hair figured appeared beside her.

"You!" Caelan snarled.

Feoras smiled. "Me."

"I just knew you were trouble!" Caelan strained against her bonds. "What are you up to? Where is Grandmother?"

"You're not in a position to be making demands my young MacSharnon." Feoras said.

"Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? Release me at once or I'll—"

Feoras laughed. "Or you'll what? You're just a spoiled brat who doesn't have enough experience as a _Spiritus_ to expel a simple ghost. You really should have learned your family's ways."

Caelan stiffened. "How do you know what I am?"

"I know all about you and your family, particularly you _dead_ family members."

"Grandmother!"

Feoras laughed. "Don't worry your pretty little head over her, she's perfectly fine, you'll see her soon. No, I was referring to your family that's been dead for quite a while, several hundred years to be in fact. Especially the founder of your little clan. You know the one that imprisoned me in that cursed island."

Caelan's eyes widened. "You're the Beast."

"So you did pay attention to some of your lessons, at least you're not a complete disgrace to your ancestors."

"You're planning to kill me, aren't you?" Caelan asked in a steady voice that surprised her.

Feoras shrugged nonchalantly. "Of course, but not yet; you still have a while before then. I just came to make small talk; I must be going now though. But before I leave, I have one question to ask you."

Caelan glared at him. "What?"

"How long can you hold your breath?"

**Oooh, dark ending. Mwahaha! Just one more chapter in the Loch Ness story arc then it's going to go to Val's point of view during "Loose Cannons". Of course there's going to be some changes to the original storyline because 1) Val's in it (obviously) 2) Wheeljack is already on earth and 3) Wheeljack doesn't have his ship anymore. So yeah, I gotta work through that one a bit. But enough of me rambling.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. **

**Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated. **


	6. The Rightful Kelpie of Loch Ness

**Ok, let me just start off by saying how much I hate little dogs, or purse pooches as I like to call them (I'm sorry if I'm offending any small dog lovers out there, but I need to vent so just let me vent). For almost two weeks I had to dogsit my grandparents little dog (a strange mix of pug and jack russell that somehow looks like a Chihuahua) and my god is that dog so dang annoying! This thing won't pee outside when it rains, she growls when you wake her up before nine in the morning, she hogs the couch (I don't know how she does it since she's the size of a shoe, but she somehow manages to take up the whole couch), she tries to hop up on your lap and eat off your plate (I don't even think she knew what actual dog food was before she stayed with us), she barks at the slightest noise (it's not even a real bark, it's that annoying yapping sound), and she starts bawling whenever you leave the room (it's very hard to go into a nice quiet room to write when a little walking pin cushion starts howling because you left her alone). Needless to say, I was nearly crying tears of joy when my grandparents picked her up yesterday (my dog was also excited to see the purse pooch go, I swear half the time she looked like she wanted to sit on that little yappy dog just to get her to shut up). Now don't get me wrong, I love dogs, just not the ones that are small enough that my chickens could eat them. Ok, rant over. Once again I apologize if I've offended anyone who has a little dog; I just needed to get that all off my chest. So now that that bit of ugliness is over with, let's get to chapter six! The last loch Ness chapter! **

**I don't own Transformers.**

"But I just don't get it."

I sighed tiredly, looking up at the slowly clearing sky; dawn was just peeking over the eastern ridges. "Yes, we get that you don't get it, Ziggy. We got that the first dozen or so times you said it."

Zig-zag scratched his head, a perplexed look on his pale face. "But it just doesn't make sense. Why would Brigid be the one helping Feoras? I'm sorry but I just don't see how it could be Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick, this is one game of Clue that I just can't find the answer to."

I crossed my arms. "I don't know. I expect the only way we'll find out is from the old woman herself."

"Darcy did say that Brigid ignored Ailis most of the time." Raf chimed in. "That might have something to do with it."

"Possibly, we'll be sure to tell you once this is over." I said.

Raf's shoulders slumped. "I really have to go back to base?"

I nodded. "Sorry kiddo, but the situation is far too dangerous for you to be involved."

"What about Zig-zag?"

"He's staying with Que to rig some sort of booby-trap. Speaking of which," I shot a pointed look at Zig-zag. "Ziggy, shouldn't you be helping Que out?"

"Oh yeah." Zig-zag walked off around the cabin to where he and Que had started to build their whatever-it-was. I did know that it was sure to make a big bang.

"What about Optimus?"

"Optimus is a big 'Bot, he can take care of himself." I glanced over to where Optimus stood talking to Ratchet over the comm link. We'd finally been able to get a signal after the storm passed. Still, I think Optimus should consider getting a new service provider.

The aforementioned Autobot turned and walked toward us, a slight frown on his face.

"So how bad of a chewing-out did Ratchet give you?" I asked. Optimus may have been the leader, but that didn't mean he was immune to the rage of Ratchet.

"He was understandably upset at my sudden disappearance, but when I explained the situation he sounded smug though a little disappointed."

"Disappointed? Why?"

"It may have something to do with Ironhide." Optimus said. "I could hear him laughing in the background and then just as the comm cut out I heard him say ʻtold you, now pay upʼ."

"I wonder what they were betting on." Raf said.

I coughed into my hand to try to hide my laughter. Light flashed and the groundbridge appeared.

"You got everything?" I asked Raf.

He held up his backpack. "This is it. The rest of my stuff is back at the castle."

I ruffled his hair. "We'll try to get it back. That is if Brigid hasn't burned it all to destroy evidence."

Bumblebee walked up, his door wings drooping. :Must we really go?:

I nodded. "Sorry about this guys."

Bee whirred sadly then transformed. Raf hopped into the passenger's seat and then they were off through the groundbridge.

"This may be the right thing to do, but I feel so guilty sending them off." I sighed as I watched the groundbridge close. "Hang on, no one is coming through? You didn't call for back up?"

Optimus shook his head. "I do not believe you need it."

I beamed at him. "Really?"

"That and I do not want anyone else injured when this poorly constructed plan of yours goes awry. Which it will."

I kicked his pede. "Jerk. You're not this cruel to anyone else on the team."

Optimus just chuckled.

A soft clearing of the throat drew my attention to the doorway of the cottage. Ailis leaned heavily against the frame. The kelpie had made a rapid recovery over the past few hours. Her skin was smooth and glowed faintly; her black hair fell in gently waves to her waist, her eyes were no longer bloodshot but the same grey-green of the kelp that made her dress. Her youthful complexion was a stark comparison to the corpse-like creature I'd found hours earlier. But she was still weak.

"I could not help but overhear you plans." She said. "And I would like to have my part in them."

"Ailis, you're not exactly in fighting condition." I said.

The kelpie stood up straight, eyes flashing with determination. "Loch Ness is my home; I have the right to defend it. Likewise I hold contract with the MacSharnon family, and even if Brigid has betrayed that contract, I must do everything in my power to protect Caelan. I cannot fail her."

"Ok." I said.

Ailis started. "You're letting me come?"

"Uh yeah, you did just ask didn't you?"

"Well yes, but I thought I'd have to argue more before you'd agree."

"Nah, you're right; the loch is your home and you know it far better than I do. Your knowledge could make the difference between failure and success. But are you sure you're going to be able to hold your own?"

Ailis nodded. "Once I'm in the loch, I'll be more than ready."

"I'll take your word on it." I turned to where Ziggy and Que were working. "How much longer guys?"

"A half hour at the most, I think." Zig-zag called back, fiddling with a complex looking gadget. It was one of a dozen gizmos that Ziggy and Que were working feverishly on.

"And how exactly did you manage to sneak this much tech out of the base?" I asked. I never remembered seeing all that tech during the trip.

"I'd rather not say." Que answered stiffly.

"Hm," was all I said. Clearly Que had more trunk space than I'd thought.

"A half hour then, no more." I said. "I don't think Caelan has much longer than that."

* * *

:Everyone in position?: I asked through the comm link as I walked toward castle MacSharnon.

:We are ready.: Optimus replied.

:Zig-zag says he thinks he'll be sick, but he's in position.: Que said.

:Alright, let's get this show on the road.: I said.

I marched towards the castle, keeping an eye on the loch as I went. I stopped several yards away from the entrance.

"Brigid!" I yelled. "Brigid MacSharnon, you and I need to talk."

The only sound that greeted me was the soft lapping of waves along the shore. Slowly the large doors creaked open and the old woman hobbled out.

Brigid smiled pleasantly at me. "Ah Valerie, what brings you here?"

"Well I just came to pick up our stuff and to ask why the hell you teamed up with that pathetic excuse for a kelpie Feoras?"

Brigid shook her head. "You do not understand."

"I understand that you went against everything your ancestors did, you endangered everyone who lives around the loch, you just watched as Ailis was carried off to her certain death, and you are putting your granddaughter in danger."

"She deserves it!" Brigid snapped. "I've given that ungrateful brat dozens—hundreds—of chances but she refuses to learn anything. She cares nothing for her family and its history."

"Well ain't that the pot calling the kettle black." I retorted. "You know, what you're doing doesn't exactly shout family pride."

"Oh but it does. I am making amends for the mistakes my ancestors made."

"Mistakes?"

"They were fools to form a contract with such a weak creature as Ailis. My family once held dominion over the entire loch and surrounding highlands. But more and more our land was encroached upon by enemy clans. We used to be royalty! And now we are a mere shadow of our former glory."

"And how is Ailis to blame for that?"

"The kelpie is a bloody pacifist!" Brigid practically snarled. "She refused to aide my family in their plight."

"Her job is to protect the loch." I said. "Not get involved in your family's border disputes."

"You know nothing; you're just an ignorant little upstart."

"And you're a senile old bat." I retorted.

"My, my, hasn't anyone told you to respect your elders?" Feoras appeared behind Brigid.

"Well if it isn't the finned freak himself." I snarled, silently I opened the comm link. :Feoras is outside. Everyone, take your positions.:

Feoras sighed. "You Americans don't have much by way of manners, do you?"

"We do tend to be a little rude towards those who try to kill us and our friends."

"Speaking of, where are your friends? I'm feeling a bit hungry. They and those maids would make a nice appetizer."

Nausea swept through me as I realized I'd completely forgotten about the maids, Jane and Elizabeth, I hoped they were ok. I turned to Brigid in disbelief. "How can you justify releasing this monster?"

"Feoras will help me restore control to the entire loch. It does not matter if there are a few casualties along the way."

"You've gone way past senile; you're in psycho-land." I croaked. "You've gone completely mental."

"Now, now, let's cease with the insults." Feoras smirked, a knowing glint in his eye. He started walking towards me. "My dear Brigid, shall I dispose of our unwanted guest?"

"Make sure no one ever finds her." Brigid said.

"Well you heard her." Feoras stopped in front of me and leaned in close. "You know what the best part is? The old woman doesn't even know what she's doing; I'm the one truly in control."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?"

Feoras chuckled. "That prison couldn't completely shut me away. My presence can spread throughout the loch, seeping to the minds of the weak-willed. I've been influencing dear Brigid for years now, slowly overpowering her. And once I finish with you I'm going to slaughter pretty little Caelan while her grandmother watches, and after I've done that I'll release Brigid from my hold just long enough for her to realize what she's done and suffer for it then I'll kill her. Then finally I'll be done with that nuisance of a clan."

"There's just one little thing you didn't factor into your plan."

"And what might that be?"

"A really pissed off me." I growled.

Feoras laughed. "You? You could barely hold your own last night. It was only dumb luck that that cumbersome semi crashed into me."

"Like I said; dumb luck seems to favor me." I crouched into position, getting ready for the change. "Oh and another thing, I've been trying to get a date with that semi for the past month and a half."

That made him pause. "What?"

I lunged, throwing all my weight into a punch that sent Feoras flying. "So I really don't appreciate you calling him cumbersome."

Feoras struggled to his feet, rubbing his chin and glaring at me. His skin began to ripple.

"Oh, no you don't." I growled. "It's my turn now."

I lunged forward again, dropping onto all fours as I changed directly into dragon mode. Armor replaced skin, my size grew, wings burst from my back, in a matter of seconds I went from one angry _Spiritus_ to an even angrier dragon. I snorted and rolled my shoulders; my wings stretched out, after spending the past few days stuck in human form constantly nothing felt better. Feoras stared up at me, fear showing in his eyes for the first time. I heard Brigid squawk in disbelief. Feoras sprinted towards the loch. I whipped my tail out, smacking him back. He wasn't going anywhere near the water, not yet at least.

Feoras growled. "Fine, if that's the way you want it." His skin bubbled and his joints popped as he completed his own transformation. "_We'll play your way, dragon._" He was more than twice my size, and a small part of me was starting to question my sanity…again, but I forced that voice to shut up as I crouched, wings flaring and claws digging into the dirt.

:I hope you guys are ready.: I said over the comm.

Then I launched myself at Feoras.

* * *

Zig-zag eyed the water warily. "You sure this is safe?"

Ailis patted his shoulder. "It shall be fine. The tunnel is relatively short, and I will lead you halfway through the passage."

"Only halfway?" Ziggy squeaked.

"I must return to help Val before your…friends put all those devices into the water." Ailis glanced back at where Optimus and Que were crouched by the shore. Her gaze held no malice only curiosity. "What strange creatures they are."

Ziggy chuckled. "There's some irony in that statement when it's coming from you."

"True. Now let us get moving." She took Zig-zag's hand and gently led him into the water.

Ziggy flinched. "Gah! Cold! Very cold!" They stopped at when the water reached chest level.

"Now I want you to take three deep breaths." Ailis instructed. "And then hold the third breath, alright?"

Zig-zag nodded and took a slow deep breath then a second and then he took the third and held it. Ailis plunged into the water, dragging Ziggy with her. Zig-zag began to panic when he went under. Suddenly he was yanked forward, being pulled through the water at an unbelievable speed. The cold liquid stung his eyes and he shut them tight, it wasn't like he could see anything in the gloom anyway. Several seconds passed by when Zig-zag suddenly felt Ailis let go of his hand and give him a shove forward and up. He got the message and started to kick, his progress seemed to be going agonizingly slow compared to Ailis' speed. Panic was just starting to return when he broke through the surface, gasping in the damp air. The cavern was nearly pitch-black, the only source of light coming from a single flickering torch mounted on the wall.

A voice cut through the gloom. "Who's there?"

There was Caelan, tied to a chair not far from the water's edge. The girl looked tired and frightened but her eyes still held a resolute gleam in them. Ziggy swam over to her, staggering out of the water.

Caelan stared at the boy dubiously. "You're supposed to be my rescue?"

"Val's a bit busy at the moment, what with fighting Feoras and all." Zig-zag knelt and started to untie her bonds.

"What about my grandmother?"

Zig-zag snorted. "She's the one who released the creep in the first place."

"W-what?"

"I'm sorry but it's true." Zig-zag held out his hand to help her up.

Caelan stood, ignoring the offered help, and headed towards the stairs. "We need to get out of this bloody cave."

"You're welcome." Ziggy huffed, following her.

They hurried up the old steps, coming to a stop when the rock wall blocked their path.

"Guess they forgot to leave the door open." Zig-zag mumbled.

Caelan began to feel along the crevices. "There should be a trip wire that opens the door from this side. Got it! This should…" Caelan quieted when she pulled out a cut rope from the wall. "…do the trick."

Zig-zag sighed. "Looks like it's time for plan B." he reached into his pockets and brought out a plastic baggie filled with little metal disks. "I just hope you aren't too fond of this wall."

* * *

"And how exactly did you manage to sneak all of this out of base without Ratchet's detecting?"

Que chuckled nervously. "Sir, for both our safety I'm not going to answer that."

The Prime stared at him for a moment but decided to drop the subject. "Are you certain this will work, Que?" Optimus asked the scientist for the umpteenth time.

"Positive." Que said, not at all fazed by his leader's apparent lack of faith in the inventor's devices. "I'm quite sure these fluctuaters will be able to change the temperature, density, and conductivity of the water." He would have continued if he hadn't noticed his leader's attention being drawn to the battle going on down the shoreline from where they were hidden. Optimus' battle mask may have covered most of his face, but his optics displayed the worry the Prime was trying to hide.

Que cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh Optimus sir, are you sure you don't want to help Val out?" He watched as the massive kelpie beast bit at the dragon's side. Val whipped her tail out, smacking into the kelpie's head with enough force for the creature to let her go. She backed away slowly. Her armor was already covered in numerous scratch and bite marks. The inventor winced in sympathy when he saw Val's rear right leg slowly leaking energon, the injury she'd received earlier while in the highlands had been made worse by the struggle.

Optimus tore his gaze away from the fight, shaking his helm to clear his thoughts. "This is Val's fight, and, though I may not like it, I will not interfere unless it becomes absolutely necessary. But I have faith in Val that she can handle this."

Que nodded. "Well for Val to get her job done, we need to do ours. So let's get these fluctuators deployed."

* * *

I lashed out, my claws sinking into Feoras' tough hide. The kelpie roared and snapped at me. I backed away quickly, nearly tripping when my right hind leg started to give out. My knee injury hadn't completely healed when I'd transformed and unfortunately it was one of the first places Feoras had attacked. Feoras swiped at me with his claws, trying to tear my wings. I retreated until I felt water lapping at my legs. Instincts told me to take to the air, to attack the kelpie from the sky where I'd have the advantage. But I couldn't give Feoras the chance to get to the water, nor could I breathe fire and risk injuring Brigid and destroying the castle while Ziggy and Caelan were still inside.

Feoras let out a rumbling chuckle. "_Come now, where's the fight eh? I thought dragons had more fire in them, of course I'm not quite sure if you're even a real dragon." _

I growled, wanting nothing more than to torch this creep. Where was Ailis? She should've been here by now.

The water behind me began to bubble. With a roar, Ailis breached the surface, walking slowly to the shore to stand beside me. She was smaller than Feoras, though still bigger than me; her features were softer than the male kelpie's and her skin was a lighter grey. Her smaller stature did nothing to make her less intimidating; the waves of rage rolling off her made her just as terrifying as Feoras, though much less sadistic.

Ailis turned her head to meet my gaze. She nodded her head. "_Let us finish this._"

* * *

"Alright, that's the last of them." Que said, as he watched the fluctuator disappear beneath the water. "Now all we have to do is ready the detonator and wait for the right moment."

"Where is the detonator?" Optimus asked.

"It's right—" Que paused, shuffling around, searching for the device. "Uh, it seems to have disappeared."

Optimus sighed. "You mean you forgot it."

"Uh…maybe."

"Que…"

"I can't help it; it's an easy thing to lose! It's only about the size of my servo with a big red button in the middle; totally easy to misplace."

"Completely." Optimus deadpanned.

:Big red button you say?: whirred a voice behind them. :Something like this then?:

The two bots turned to see Bumblebee holding the detonator with a rather smug expression on his faceplates.

:I think you might need this.: Bee handed the device to Que. Then the scout turned to Optimus. :Before you say anything, yes I know we went against orders and are ready to face the consequences, but we—:

"Uh Bumblebee," Que interrupted, peering around the yellow bot. "Where's Raf?"

:Oh, he's in the castle.:

"What?"

* * *

"Can't you work any faster?" Caelan demanded, her foot tapping a staccato beat against the stone floor.

"I'd work much faster if you didn't nag me so much." Zig-zag grouched under his breath as he fiddled with come wires.

Caelan narrowed her eyes. "What was that?"

Ziggy sighed. "My disks weren't meant to go through solid stone, so I need to combine their charges in the hopes that the total force will be enough to blast the stones away."

"So you're taking all this time to prepare a device that might not work? Are you Americans even capable of coming up with a plan that isn't half-assed and flawed? Honestly we'd have better luck trying to go through the water tunnel. You made it in after all."

Ziggy gritted his teeth. "Yes, but I had Ailis helping me through, I don't think a normal human could make it."

"And where is Ailis? Why isn't she here? She holds contract with _my_ family after all. Why w—"

"WILL YOU PUT A LID ON IT!" Zig-zag shouted at a stunned Caelan. "Right now Ailis and Val are risking life and limb to save your ungrateful ass. Now I'm trying to do my best to get us out of here, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop running your mouth for a few minutes, ok?" Ziggy turned back to the wires mumbling, "What the hell was I thinking?"

The next few minutes passed in blissful silence. A spark jumped between the wires. Zig-zag grabbed Caelan and dragged her down the steps; a small explosion followed a second later, filling the passage with dust and smoke. The climbed over the rubble and out into the library.

"Well so far so good." Zig-zag coughed, tripping over a fallen bookshelf. As the words left his mouth an eerie screech echoed off the walls, seeming to come from everywhere within the castle. "What the hell was that?"

Caelan paled. "Castle security."

"You guys have security guards?"

"Sort of." Caelan grabbed his arm. "We need to get out _now_!"

They stumbled out of the library, racing down the halls. A slow clanking sound filled the air.

"What are we running from?" Zig-zag asked. As they skidded into a hall lit by a giant chandelier and had old weapons decorating the walls.

Caelan yanked him to a stop. "That."

From the other end of the hall, the clanking grew louder. Zig-zag now recognized the sound as footsteps, armored footsteps. A heavy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. "Those suites of armor…they're for decoration only, right?"

"Most of the time."

"Ah." Ziggy squeaked as four sets of armor stomped around the corner, each carrying a sharp and particularly painful looking sword. "Possessed armor? That's messed up."

"At least you can't see what's inside of them." Caelan flinched as she caught sight of a ghostly skull peeking out of one of the helms. "These are mainly used to keep thieves out, but my grandmother must have set them to awake if I were to break out of the cave."

"Alright, so you're a MacSharnon, can't you like override her commands or something?" Zig-zag asked. Caelan suddenly became very interested in the dust on her shoes. "You don't know how, do you?"

Caelan shook her head. "I never bothered to learn."

"Great. Well looks like we'll have to deal with them the old fashioned way." Ziggy huffed, walking to where an ancient battle ax rested on the wall. "I've played enough World of Warcraft to know how this wor—ack!" Zig-zag nearly toppled forward as the ax hit the floor. "Holy crap on a flapjack! Why is it so heavy?" He pulled, straining until his face turned an unpleasant shade of puce, but the ax wouldn't budge. The ghostly guards were only a few feet from them.

"Heads up!"

Caelan and Zig-zag looked up to see the chandelier swaying dangerously before falling. They scrambled back as it crashed to the floor, taking the armor with it.

"Wow, I didn't think that actually worked outside of cartoons." Said the short bespectacled boy from the other end of the hall, holding the chain to the chandelier. Two frightened maids stood beside him.

"Miss, are you alright?" they called out to Caelan.

"I'm fine, are you two ok?" she questioned as she hurried over to them.

"Raf!" Ziggy called, skirting around the chandelier. "How'd you get in?"

Raf shrugged. "I used the back door."

"The…back…door."

"Yeah, there's a small service entrance that leads into the kitchens. That's where I found these two tied up." He gestured to Jane and Elizabeth. "How'd you get in?"

"Not through any door I can tell you that." Ziggy grumbled. "Wait, what are you doing here anyway? You're supposed to have gone home."

"Can we discuss this later?" Caelan pushed past them. "The troops are starting to regroup." She pointed to where the pieces of armor were slowly pulling themselves out from underneath the chandelier, putting themselves back together.

"Yeah, let's get the hell out of this funny farm." Ziggy said.

The five of them sprinted down the halls, heading towards the main doors. A deep roar echoed through the walls of the castle, the ground shook beneath them.

Caelan froze, eyes wide. "What was that?"

Zig-zag cocked his head to the side. "That might be Val. No, wait a second," Another roar, slightly higher in pitch than the first, was heard. "Ok, that one was Val."

Caelan stared at him. "What…"

"Don't exactly have time to explain." Ziggy said, pulling at the doors. "Besides, seeing is believing right?" He ushered the others out.

The young MacSharnon gasped at the sight before her. The Beast stood before her, deep gashes covering his oily hide. The rage and bloodlust in his eyes chilled Caelan to the bone. She wished that Feoras had just been a common swindler that she had first thought him to be; it would have been easier to deal with than the horror of his true form. As they watched, Feoras lurched forward, trying to get to the loch. His path was blocked by a smaller kelpie. Caelan's eyes widened as she looked upon Ailis for the first time. The creature that had formed a contract with her family oh so many years ago seemed so much weaker than the monster before her, yet Ailis fought with a fury that seemed too big for her small form. Still, Caelan could not see how the female kelpie could possibly hold her own against the terror of loch Ness.

The answer came from an echoing roar overhead as a large black and silver creature slammed on Feoras' back.

Caelan stumbled backward. "What the bloody hell is that?"

"A dragon." Raf said, watching the fight with worried expression.

"That is not a dragon." Caelan scoffed. "It's…it's a machine!"

"It was decided that dragons needed to be upgraded." Zig-zag said, his eyes never leaving the battle. "This version comes with built in GPS, seat-warmers, satellite radio, in-flight movies, and ten times the attitude." He whooped when the dragon bit into the back of Feoras' neck. "Yeah Val, kick his amphibious ass!"

The dragon looked up at the sound of Ziggy's voice. Unfortunately Feoras took that opportunity to knock her off his back, his tail smacking into her head.

"Did you just call that thing Val?" Caelan asked. "Are you telling me that—" A soft moan cut her off. Caelan turned to see her grandmother standing not ten feet from her, one hand holding onto a cane with a white-knuckle grip while the other clutched her head as she swayed. "Grandmother!" Caelan ran over to her and grasped the old woman by the shoulders.

Brigid MacSharnon stared straight ahead, eyes wide but unseeing. "A dragon…I do not believe…how…what…what is going on? I don't…" A glimmer began to enter the old woman's eyes.

"Grandmother?" Caelan shook Brigid's shoulders gently.

Brigid's eyes followed the battling creatures, the glimmer getting stronger. Then she turned her sights on Feoras. A shudder ran up her frame and the glimmer faded away, replaced again by that unseeing haze. "I…must help Feoras."

Caelan's heart sank as Zig-zag's accusations of her Grandmother's treachery became true. "Oh Granny, what have you done?"

* * *

With Ailis as back-up, I was able to fully through myself into the fight. My instincts took over as the battle progressed. Images became blurred, Feoras' weak spots became the focus; everything else faded out. I was barely aware of taking to the air and dive bombing the male kelpie. The only thing that I kept in check was my fire; at this close range it would destroy a good portion of the castle.

It was Zigg's voice that jolted me out of my battle haze. I meant to only glance up to make sure that he and Caelan were alright, but I stopped when I saw Raf standing beside them.

How the hell did he get here?

Surprise slowed my reflexes long enough for Feoras to unbalance me and send my flying with a smack of his tail. I landed with a painful thud beside Ailis, my injured leg almost giving out. I looked back at Zig-zag and Raf; not only was Caelan with them but the two maids as well, frightened but otherwise unharmed. Relief filled me as I turned my head slightly towards Ailis. Catching her eye, I gave her a subtle nod. Her eyes flickered in understanding. Feoras charged us again, desperate to get to the loch. Instead of blocking him we simply sidestepped. He barreled past us and into the water.

I opened the comm link. :Now!: And prayed nothing would go boom.

Feoras was already neck-deep in the loch when the water began to froth, bolts of bluish-white electricity arced across the surface. A screech of pain escaped Feoras as the bolt stuck him from all sides. He twisted and writhed in pain, smoke rising from his body as he struggled to get back to shore. The bolts stopped after a minute but the water continued to bubble. There was a flash beneath the waves and the water began to ice over. In a matter of seconds the whole area, from the shoreline to about a quarter mile out, was completely frozen, including Feoras. The kelpie was stuck with only his head and a massive claw above the water, completely stiff from the ice.

Zig-zag was nearly in hysterics with excitement. "Yes! Yes it worked! It actually worked. Way to go Que! Yeah, how does it feel being a giant popsicle you overgrown lizard? Hah! That was intense. Whew! I need to pee now."

I rolled my optics as I sunk to the ground, my legs sliding out from under me. Ailis' shoulders sagged in relief. She turned and smiled at me. Well, smiled as best she could in her current form.

:Val, is everyone alright?: Optimus asked over the comm.

:Yeah we're fine.: I replied. :Now we just got to figure out what to do with—:

"Grandmother!"

Brigid gave a strangled moan as her eyes rolled back and she began to shake. She lost her balance and would've fallen if Caelan hadn't managed to catch her. Caelan slowly lowered her grandmother to the ground.

"_Oh no."_ Ailis whispered.

I turned to see her not looking at Brigid but at the loch. The ice began to crack around Feoras. With a roar he burst from his frozen shell and dragged himself out of the ice. His skin glowed faintly as his wounds resealed.

Ailis groaned. "_Feoras must have entered into a contract with Brigid. He's siphoning her power to restore himself." _

I struggled to stand again. :Que, please tell me you can set that thing off again. Or at least make it explode.:

:Sorry Val, but I only had enough charge in it to use the fluctuaters once.:

Shit.

Feoras chuckled. "_You see dear dragon, you cannot win this fight. Loch Ness is mine to rule._"

"Not while a MacSharnon still lives!" Caelan's hands were clenched and her whole body shook with rage. "You may call me an ignorant brat, but I still am a MacSharnon. My blood carries the same legacy as my grandmother's. I still bear the same responsibility as my ancestors who took the oath all those centuries ago. And now I call upon that contract forged in ancient times to defeat you. Ailis is the true kelpie of Loch Ness. So you Feoras, trickster and devourer of hearts, _GAHB ROMHAD!_"

The winds picked up; storm clouds appeared out of nowhere. Ailis sighed as her own wounds began to heal. The ice shattered at massive waves smashed onto shore. Feoras was thrown onto the land, as if the loch itself was rejecting him. No sooner had he hit the shore when Ailis attacked. She fell on him with a fury and power I'd never thought her capable of. Her claws struck at a speed that made it hard for even me to see them. Lighting arced overhead, flashing down and striking Feoras each time Ailis attacked. I tried to join into fray, but the fight moved too fast. All I could do was watch in awe at the ancient ferocity of the MacSharnon contract. Feoras could barely defend himself from Ailis' fangs and claws. His hide was soon coated in bloody gashes that no amount of power drained from Brigid could heal. Feoras stumbled and Ailis found her opening. Lunging forward, she snapped her jaws around his throat, clamping down hard. Feoras' roar turned into a strangled gurgle as he slumped on the ground. Ailis held onto his neck a moment more then dropped him, her sides heaving as she backed away.

Caelan sank to her knees. "Holy shit, that…I never thought I could…" she clasped her pale, trembling hands together. "Thank you, ancestors, thank you."

Brigid moaned softly. "What…what is going on?" Her eyes fell on Feoras' body and she started to cry. "Good God, what have I done? I…I am such a fool." Brigid broke into heavy sobs.

Caelan crawled over to her grandmother. "It's alright, he is gone; the Beast is dead."

Brigid shook her head. "No…look." Feoras' claws twitched ever so slightly. "He must be destroyed completely." She turned her gaze to me. "Dragon fire would be more than enough to cleanse the loch of his presence."

I nodded slowly. Ignoring the pain in my leg, I launched myself into the air. My wings snapped against the wind as I rapidly ascended. At several hundred feet I looked down, watching as the others cleared the area, getting as far away from Feoras' body as possible. Once they were ready, I tucked in my wings and dived. Wind whipped past me as fire grew inside my spark. My jaws opened and a ball of white hot flames shot out. Feoras' eyes flickered open just as the fire hit. He roared as flames devoured his body. For a creature of water he was surprisingly flammable. I pulled out of my dive and flew back up, looping into another dive. I shot a second round of fire at him; effectively ending his struggle as the fire completely consumed him. I glided past the flames. Too tired to land properly, I settled for skidding across the ground, wincing as dirt and stones were embedded into my wound. I slid to a stop and just lay there.

Raf scrambled over to me. "Val that was…" He stopped under my glare. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

I growled softly.

Raf's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry."

Aw, I couldn't stay mad at the kid. I'd leave the disciplining to Optimus. Gently, I nudged Raf with my muzzle, humming contently.

Raf laughed and patted my snout. "Thanks Val."

"The castle!" Caelan cried out.

I turned to see the flames spread to castle MacSharnon. The whole structure went up like a tinderbox.

Brigid sighed. "It is no more than I deserve for my betrayal. Let it burn, I say. That castle holds nothing but treachery and deceit." She turned to me. "Dragons are sacred to all _Spiritus _families. Attacking you is worthy of treason worse than my own breaching of my family's contract with Ailis. I am willing to accept any punishment my actions have incurred."

I leaned over so my head was level with her face. A growl bubbled up from my frame. Brigid shut her eyes tight. I chuffed and spat a few sparks at her then turned away.

Brigid, upon realizing she wasn't actually burned to a crisp, shuddered and began to tear up again. "Thank you, though I do not believe I am worthy of your mercy."

I just rolled my optics.

Zig-zag cleared his throat. "I hate to break up the mood, but maybe we should call the fire department now."

* * *

"Val, get off of my hood."

"Nope."

"Get off."

"Don't wanna."

"Valiant."

"I'm injured; I can barely move."

"You seemed more than capable several minutes ago when you climbed onto my hood."

"I was running on the last of my adrenaline, or whatever the Autobot equivalent is, now I can barely move my fingers." I said smugly from where I was sprawled out on top of Optimus' alt-mode. After Feoras' body had been burned to dust, several fire crews had been called in to douse the castle. Those of us who were not a MacSharnon had hid away for several hours as the fire was put out. If the firemen had found the sight of the burning castle, deep claw marks in the dirt, blocks of ice floating in the loch, and a giant pile of ash suspicious they didn't comment on it. It seems there was a lot of local legend surrounding the MacSharnons and the locals simply took what they saw at face value and didn't question it. After they had left our little group emerged from out hiding spots, Ailis and I back in our human forms with me sporting a heavily bandaged right leg. Optimus, Que, and Bumblebee had also returned in their alt-modes, which had drawn a few curious glances from Caelan and Brigid. They had looked at Ailis for an explanation, but the kelpie kept her mouth shut. Darcy Afton had also arrived, having been called by Caelan, and had been positively jubilant at the sight of Ailis alive and well.

Optimus rumbled and jolted forward several feet.

I yelped and clutched at the metal of his hood. "Jerk."

"I do not know what you mean; my parking brake simply slipped out of place." Optimus said.

I crossed my arms. "Uh-huh. If you mess up my leg even more I'm sending Ratchet after you."

"I think he will be too busy scolding you to pay me any mind."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's looking forward to chewing me out when we get back." I grimaced and poked my leg. "Tell the truth, will I ever be able to do the can-can again?"

Optimus chuckled. "You will be back to your usually self in no time."

"And you'll be back to avoiding me, I suppose." I sighed, as I watched Ziggy and Raf try to help the others clean away some of the debris.

"Val—"

"Listen Optimus," I interrupted him. "I know why you've been distancing yourself from me. And…if my feelings towards you are bothering you that much then just come right out and say it, and I'll stop with the teasing. I can't stop the way I feel for you…but I don't want to be the reason why you're running away. So just say the word and when we get back I'll…I'll just keep to myself, I'll be professional, just another colleague." My spark seemed to wither a bit as I said this, but I kept a straight face.

Optimus was silent for a moment. "Valiant, the fault is not yours. It has been my own cowardice that has caused me to avoid you. This mission has shown me how much I miss our…interactions, and how much I want them to continue."

A funny warmth crept into my chest as he spoke. "So you're not going to run screaming away whenever I enter the room?"

"I do not run—oh never mind." Optimus huffed. "No, I will not avoid you anymore. Though I would appreciate it if you could curb your…enthusiasm a bit in front of the others."

"It's a deal." I said, stroking the cool metal of his alt-mode.

"Good. Now if you please, get off of my hood."

"You really want to start this again?"

"Do all dragons talk to their vehicles?" Caelan called. "Or is that just an abnormality of yours?"

"Jeez, where's the gratitude?" I huffed.

Caelan rolled her eyes. "Oh believe me; I'm more than grateful to have this bloody chaos over with. Now I've got to clean up this mess. It's a miracle that Jane and Elizabeth haven't quit."

"You should definitely give those two raises." I said.

Caelan nodded. "And an extensive amount of vacation time."

I smiled. "So what are you gonna do now?"

"Make up for my past ignorance; I'm going to learn everything I can about being a _Spiritus_ and more importantly about being a MacSharnon. I'm not going to let Ailis or the loch down ever again."

"Smart choice." I said.

"And thank you, Val, for helping my family even though we treated you so horribly." Caelan said. "You're a far better person than you first appear to be."

"Holy crap, did Caelan MacSharnon just both thank me and compliment me? I think I must have hit my head because there's no way this is real."

Caelan smirked. "That being said, unless there is some cataclysmic emergency here, I don't ever want to see you or your little gang of weirdos on my property ever again, understood?"

I saluted her. "Yes Ma'am."

"Good, now get the hell out of here."

"With pleasure." I slid down from Optimus' hood and hopped on one foot to the driver's side door. "Zig-zag, Raf, come on let's burn rubber. I want to be stateside before the five o'clock news starts."

Ziggy and Raf walked over, followed by Brigid, Darcy, and Ailis.

"You know what the first thing I'm going to do when we get back home?" Zig-zag asked as he climbed into Que's alt-mode. "Order a double cheeseburger with a large side of fries. Nothing like a good, greasy meal to erase the taste of that haggis."

"Oh wait," Raf paused, searching his pockets for his phone. "I didn't get a picture of Ailis. I promised to get a picture of the loch Ness monster." He looked sheepishly up at Ailis. "Not that I think you're a monster."

Ailis laughed. "That's alright."

"Found it." Raf held up his phone. "Ok, smile."

"Oh, but wouldn't you rather have a picture of me in my true form? You've earned it after all."

Raf shook his head. "No, I've seen enough kelpies to last me a life time. Besides you're more photogenic in this form."

Darcy snorted. "A small camera on a phone isn't good enough for this. Here," he reached inside a pocket on his sweater and brought out a small square piece of paper. "You can have this." On the paper was a small, but incredibly detailed watercolor of Ailis in human form, looking out over the loch at sunset.

Raf's eyes widened. "I can have this?"

Darcy nodded. "My thanks for saving Ailis."

"Thank you." Raf said.

"Alright, this is more sentiment than I can stomach." Caelan groused. "Let's get a move on."

Brigid gave a stiff nod to me. "My humble thanks again, my family is in your debt."

Ailis walked forward and hugged me. "In all my years I had never imagined that I would one day see the reign of the dragons. Thank you."

"Not much of a reign if it's only me."

"Don't worry; I have a feeling there's more to come for you than what you expect." Ailis let me go and place a hand against Optimus. "And thank you, Optimus Prime, for your help. Know that while I still live, you and your kind may always find safe haven at Loch Ness."

Optimus' engine rumbled to life in response.

I leaned over to her and whispered. "Just be sure to be wary of any with red eyes."

"Hey, do I get a thank you?" Zig-zag whined.

"Your thank you is that I don't beat you to a pulp for yelling at me." Caelan replied. "Now all of you go away!"

I laughed and climbed into the driver's seat. "Alright fellas, let's roll out!"

"Wait, why is a twelve year old driving a sports car?" Caelan asked as Raf climbed into Bee's alt-mode.

"Uh…Bye!" I called then whispered to Optimus. "Floor it!"

He raced away with Bumblebee and Que following closely behind.

I leaned back into the seat. "Well, I gotta say for a first mission it could have definitely gone better, but it also could have gone worse. At least no one died. And no one other than Ailis found out about you guys. Still, I'm really looking forward to going home and dealing with Decepticons and M.E.C.H. That stuff I can handle."

"As I said before, you will gain more experience over time." Optimus said. "And I thought you were dreading the return to base since you would have to deal with Ratchet's terrible bedside manners."

"True." I grinned and shrugged as a flash of light signaled the opening of the groundbridge. "But I also want to find out what he and Ironhide were wagering on that bet."

** Whoo! Goodbye Loch Ness. I gotta say, the loch Ness story lasted way longer than I'd originally planned; I thought it would only take up three chapters (not counting the first) and low and behold it took up five. **

_**GAHB ROMHAD! **_**means Begone! in Scottish Gaelic (at least that's what the translation website told me)**

**Right, well I've got a short story that I need to finish that should be up in a day or two. **

**Reviews? Pleeeeeease?**


	7. Delinquents and Detonations

**Yes! I managed to update the story in under a week (by like, two hours but whatever)! Yay! Though is it just me or are these chapters getting longer and longer? So this is my adaptation of "Loose Cannons" into the Valiant Spark story line. As I said before, VS is going to roughly follow the season two plot for a time (though I'll probably break away from it entirely at some point). This does not follow "Loose Cannons" scene by scene just so you know. I hope you all like it. **

**I don't own Transformers.**

After knowing her for several years, I've learned that when Lola enters into an argument she uses threes different methods of attack in a specific order: threaten, plead, and then persuade. She was currently using the first assault.

"Val, we are going tonight or so help me I'll shred all of your ratty t-shirts and replace them with sundresses."

For most women that would actually seem like an incentive, but for me that was a legitimate punishment.

I sighed and tossed away the crossword puzzle I'd been trying to work on. "I'm sorry, Lola, but I just don't want to go out clubbing. You know it's never been my thing."

"Yet you would go anyway."

"Only because you'd drag me along with you."

Lola clasped her hands in front of her and tried to pull a puppy pout. "Please, Val. We haven't had a girl's night out in over two months; not since before you became a dragon-Autobot thingy. And now you're always off fighting Decepticons, or chasing after M.E.C.H., or dealing with monsters. I feel like we hardly get to talk anymore. We're best friends for crying out loud!"

And there was the pleading.

I slouched against the couch I was resting on. I was currently hanging out in the human barracks at base after I'd returned from a scouting mission with Ironhide in the Sahara. Good thing to know: the 'Bot really hates sand. He would not stop griping about how it kept getting into his gears and slowing him down. Needless to say, I was glad to return. After I'd escaped—I mean left Ironhide, I had shifted into Pretender mode and headed to where Lola and Zig-zag lived on base, looking forward to some peace and quiet. Sadly, I hadn't sat down for five minutes when I was ambushed by Lola. Now she wouldn't stop about going clubbing. When we had lived in Seattle, Lola and I would go out to a club once a month. Most of the time I just acted as bodyguard and chaperone for my younger friend, but still we'd always had a few good laughs. And I had to admit that sadly I hadn't been hanging out with Lola as much as I used to.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's already starting to get late." But my argument was starting to crumble.

Lola could smell victory. "It's a Friday in summer; everything is open later, even in Seattle."

"Wait, Seattle? Lola I'm not so sure that's such a good idea." I hadn't exactly given the Seattle P.D. my letter of resignation or told them where I was going. I'd all but dropped off the radar, and I wasn't sure how they'd feel about me suddenly showing up out of the blue at a club.

Lola rolled her eyes. "Val, Seattle is huge and you know it like the back of your hand. You're not going to run into any of the guys from the station. What cop goes clubbing anyway?"

"The ones that get bullied into going by their friends."

"Come on Val, you could use a break from all this sci-fi stuff. And it's a flashback Friday at the Olympiana." Lola said, naming her favorite club. "Nothing after the nineteen-nineties; so that's all ACDC, Duran-Duran, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Genesis, and all that other crap you like, Miss I-Hate-Mainstream-Music."

And there's the persuading.

I rubbed my forehead. "And just how do you suggest we get there?"

"Groundbridge obviously."

I looked at her skeptically. "And how are you going to convince Ratchet to open a groundbridge for us to clubbing?"

Lola crossed her arms confidently. "Oh don't you worry, I'll find a way."

I suddenly feared for our dear medic.

"So what do you say?" Lola asked, bouncing on her heels.

I sighed. "Yes, obviously. Because I know you won't stop until I agree."

She cheered and hugged me. "Ok, now go get dressed."

"Why can't I go in what I'm wearing?" I asked.

Lola snorted and looked me over with a dubious expression. I was wearing a pair of old sneakers, faded jeans, and a ZZ-Top t-shirt. "Really Val, must you ask?

"I can always hope that one day you won't try to force me into a monkey suit."

"Yeah, keep on dreaming." Lola snorted. "Alright get moving. You've got fifteen minutes to get ready."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to be ready in fifteen minutes?"

"I can be dressed and prepped in under ten. It's you that will hold us up."

"Alright, alright I'm going." I rose to my feet and slowly shuffled out of the room.

I stomped into my quarters and over to my old dresser, the piece of furniture looked ridiculously small in such a large room. Yanking open the drawers, I rifled through them for something nice to wear. My search turned up a pair of black slacks (a Christmas gift from Lola) and a silver shirt that had one sleeve ending in a loose flare at the elbow while the other was simply a spaghetti strap (this was a birthday gift from Lola). In fact, everything dressy that I owned had been a gift from Lola, the girl had been trying to improve my sense of fashion since the day we'd met (which was a bit strange since we'd first met when I'd arrested her for trying to pick my pocket, kind of awkward getting fashion tips from someone who'd just tried to steal me). As I pulled on the getup I wondered how I'd explain this to the others. _Yeah, so I'm going out for a night on the town, have fun saving the world without me._ Guilt tugged at my conscience, but I brushed it off. The others did their own thing during their down time; I had the right to go out for a little bit too. I slipped into a pair of black work boots, the only piece of apparel that wasn't dressy. They didn't exactly go, but I didn't care; never know when I might have to give someone a good kick. Grabbing my jacket (because even if it was early summer in Seattle, that didn't stop the rain), I exited my room.

Zig-zag ran past me, practically foaming at the mouth with excitement. "Come on, I can't wait to get a good look at that ship."

Huh?

Before I could ask, Ziggy ran around the corner and out of sight. Que came next, but, like Zig-zag, he was going too fast for me to get his attention. Perceptor followed at a much slower pace. I tried my luck with him. "Hey Perce, what's going on?"

The quiet scientist gave a start, looking around until he found me. "Ah, good evening Valiant." He cocked his head to the side. "That does not seem like your usual apparel."

"Yeah, Lola's dragging me out to go dancing."

"Dancing: to move rhythmically to music. Humans often use this as a method to attract members of the opposite sex. Are you trying to make your appearance more aesthetically pleasing in order to increase your chances of attracting a mate? If so, I must ask why, because I had assumed you were trying to gain the affections of Optimus Prime."

I held up my hands. "Whoa there, slow down. The only reason I'm dressed up and going out is because Lola's forcing me to."

He frowned "Forcing you? I do not understand how she can do that. Your fighting skills and abilities are far greater than hers; I do not see how she could possibly force you to do anything."

"You try telling Lola that and see what happens." I shook my head. "Anyway, you got me sidetracked; what are Ziggy and Que so excited about?"

"Oh that? They are going to work on Wheeljack's ship, the Jackhammer."

"Wait, Wheeljack came to Earth with you, Que, Ironhide, and Chromia; how'd his ship get here?" I asked.

"A Decepticon named Dreadwing brought it along with him. Apparently Wheeljack picked up the Jackhammer's signal and went looking only to run into Dreadwing. They, ah, had a bit of a scuffle. Agent Fowler is not pleased. They are all in the main hanger. I must be going now. Zig-zag, Que, and I must run diagnostics and repairs on the Jackhammer to ensure that Dreadwing hasn't tampered with the systems. It has already been checked for explosives but one can never be too sure. I hope you have a pleasant evening dancing."

"Thanks. Have fun, uh, taking apart the ship." Perceptor and I parted ways. I headed towards the main hanger.

"Ow! Take it easy Doc, I need that arm."

"Well hold still and maybe you'll keep it." Ratchet snapped.

I rounded the corner to see the medic trying to repair a wound on Wheeljack's left shoulder. Optimus, Ironhide, Arcee, Chromia, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee stood around them, and none of them looked too happy, particularly Optimus.

Wheeljack shook off Ratchet. "Look, Commander, apologies for the fireworks, it won't happen again. But Dreadwing and I have some unfinished business between us."

"What's your problem with him anyway; other than him being a 'Con?" Bulkhead asked. "I mean, I thought you had been roving the galaxy, you know looking for Autobot refugees."

Wheeljack sighed. "I had been, until I found one. A Wrecker."

"Who?"

"Seaspray."

Bulkhead laughed. "And how is old barnacle butt?"

"Not so good Bulk, blown to bits actually."

The green 'Bot staggered back. "What? No!"

Pain and sadness flashed across Optimus' optics. "Dreadwing."

"The Jackhammer had picked up Seaspray's signal. We had made contact and arranged to meet in the Dramadant system. But Dreadwing must have intercepted the transmission because he got to Seaspray first." Wheeljack quieted, shoulders slumping.

"Was a proximity bomb, wasn't it?" Ironhide said, more as a statement than a question. "I've dealt with Dreadwing before and I know that's his favored means of attack. The 'Con's record for explosions could rival Que's."

If that was true, I certainly didn't want to get on this Dreadwing's bad side. Of course, seeing as I was sided with the Autobots, I probably already was.

Wheeljack nodded. "The bomb was supposed to take both of us out. Guess I should be glad that the Jackhammer can take a punch. Unfortunately the blast knocked most of the ship's systems out, couldn't track Dreadwing, couldn't follow him, I couldn't even make it to the nearest planet to do repairs. It was not long after that that I bumped into you two and the nutty professors." Wheeljack said, gesturing to Ironhide and Chromia. "I figured leading you all to Earth was a better option than just sitting there waiting for Dreadwing to come back and finish me off. I knew it was probably better to destroy the Jackhammer, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. My guess is that Dreadwing found it and carted it along with him, hoping that I'd pick up on my ship's signal and come after him. Well it worked."

"I know of this Dreadwing as well." Optimus said. "He was captain of a Seeker armada, and such, like his twin brother Skyquake, fiercely loyal to the Decepticon cause."

"Hold it." I said, speaking up for the first time. "This Dreadwing guy is Skyquake's twin brother? Skyquake, as in that creepy one-armed zombie that we ran into in Alaska?"

Wheeljack cast a sidelong glance at me. "What's with the getup?"

I rubbed my forehead, was my change in clothes so different that even _Wheeljack_ noticed? "Don't ask, I'd really rather not have to keep explaining. But back to my question." I looked up at Optimus. "_That_ Skyquake?"

He nodded.

"Ok then. We're screwed. If Skyquake was tough, I can't imagine how bad Dreadwing is; he's alive and has both arms." Suddenly, going out to a club didn't seem all that appealing at the moment. "So I'm guessing he didn't come here to hunt Wreckers then."

Optimus shook his head. "No, though it is clear that Dreadwing has every intention of continuing his fight with Wheeljack, his first priority in coming here is to pay allegiance to his one true master."

"And Megatron gets another lackey. That's just great." Arcee grumbled, her voice laced with sarcasm.

Wheeljack stood. "Not for long, he won't."

"Wheeljack, you have been on this planet long enough to know that it is heavily populated." Optimus admonished. "Any strike we make against the Decepticons must be carefully measured, as a _team_."

"So we're just going to sit on our afts and do nothing?" Wheeljack asked in disbelief.

The base elevator pinged open and one very angry Agent Fowler came storming out. He stomped over to Wheeljack. "You, Loose Cannon, your cowboy antics almost blew our cover. That spaceship you shot down most definitely did not blend with local Nebraska scenery. I had to jump through some big hoops to get that thing hauled away!" He turned to Optimus. "You need to keep a tighter leash on your people, Prime."

"A tighter leash?" Wheeljack growled, stalking over to the government agent. "Let me clarify, tiny; I'm not one of Optimus Prime's _people_."

Fowler held his ground. "Well you certainly had me fooled. You've been staying under his roof, working with his team; I'd have thought you'd at least have half a thought in that hollow metal head of yours to respect his rules!"

Wheeljack glared at him then stomped off.

Bullkhead ran after him. "Wheeljack, wait up!"

"I gotta say Fowler; you got balls to be telling Wheeljack off like that. I've never seen him that pissed off before." I said, walking up the platform to stand beside him. "So how the heck did I manage to miss all the excitement?"

"Believe me; you should be glad you didn't have to deal with the mess." Fowler sighed then did a double take when he looked at me. "What the heck are you wearing, Darby?"

"Oh for the love of—" I threw my hands in the air. "Is it really that odd for me to wear an outfit like this?"

"Yes." Came the answer from everyone in the room.

My shoulders slumped. "You all suck, I hope you know that."

Fowler pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well that's all the crazy I can take for one night. Be sure to keep your team in line, Prime. I don't enjoying yelling, you know."

"Could'a fooled me." Ironhide mumbled. Chromia smacked him hard on his arm. "Ow!"

She reached up and grabbed the side of his helm and started to drag him away. "You need a refresher course in manners."

"Ooh, punishment?" Irohide asked gleefully.

Chromia rolled her optics. "You're a perverted old 'Bot, you know that?"

Fowler shuddered. "That was one conversation I didn't need to hear." With that, he turned on his heels and left.

I sighed and leaned against the platform railing. "This Dreadwing thing is really eating at Wheeljack. It's so strange to see him this angry. Granted, I haven't known him for very long, but it's still strange."

"The Wreckers were a very close knit community of warriors." Optimus explained. "They are a reclusive bunch, wary of outsiders, even other Autobots."

"Ferocious too." Arcee added. "I ran into another Wrecker once, Springer; the 'Bot was easy to get along with most of the time, but if you got him mad…"

Bee shuddered and whirred. :We're just lucky he was on our side.:

"The Wreckers are fierce for good reason." Optimus said. "They would often take assignments that no one else would, and many did not return."

"That's a tough life to have." I murmured. "No wonder they're tight; they're all they've got."

"Be that as it may." Ratchet said. "Wheeljack's vendetta against Dreadwing could prove to be a liability in further Decepticon encounters. It will cloud his judgment and cause him to take unnecessary risks that could be disastrous in a mission, such as we have seen in other occurrences." He cast a sideways glance at Arcee. She glared at him then promptly left the hangar.

"You know, I don't think Wheeljack is much of a team player." I said. "He's been kind of restless lately, even before Dreadwing showed up."

"Regardless, we must find a way to resolve the situation before it gets out of hand." Optimus said. He shook his head to clear his thoughts then turned to me with a questioning look in his optics. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"Hm? Oh." I sighed. "Does it really look that bad?"

"Not at all. It is just different." Optimus said. "May I inquire as to the occasion?"

"It's nothing special." I shrugged my shoulders. "Lola's just forcing me to go out to a club with her tonight. It's just kind of a chance to get away and relax a bit. Though to be honest, I never really do much there. And now with this business with the new Decepticon, I'm thinking that maybe I should just skip—"

"Oh no you don't." Lola marched into the main hanger in a short red dress and high heels, one hand clutched a purse while the other held an umbrella. "You're not getting out of this just because Wheeljack's decided on acting like a drama queen."

"Speaking of drama queen," I grumbled.

Lola narrowed her eyes. "What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Good. Now Ratchet, could you be a dear and open the groundbridge to Seattle?"

Ratchet snorted. "Why would I waste our resources to do that?"

A smug smile spread across Lola's face as she motioned for Ratchet to come closer. Ratchet looked at her warily but kneeled so that Lola could whisper into is audio receptor.

"This can't be good." I groaned, knowing full well what she was doing. "Lola wouldn't be this confident unless she was sure she had some good dirt on Ratchet."

"Dirt?" Optimus asked, not sure of the term.

"Blackmail material." I explained. "Just watch."

Ratchet stiffened as he listened to Lola and his eyes widened in horror. "I'll reformat Ironhide into a microwave!" he snarled.

"So can we use the groundbridge?" Lola asked sweetly.

Ratchet clenched his fists. "…fine, but you're getting back to base on your own." He stomped over to the consol, muttering curses under his breath.

I sighed and shook my head. "And that, Optimus, is why Lola would make a good politician." I walked down the steps to stand next to her. "So what exactly did Ironhide tell you?"

Lola winked mischievously at me. "Oh that? It's nothing. Just remind me that if we ever run into two Autobots by the names of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker I owe them a big thanks."

I rolled my eyes and pulled on my coat as the groundbridge whirled to life. "Well, don't wait up for us." I called to Optimus.

"Be careful." He said.

I laughed. "Seattle is my home turf; what could possible go wrong?" Though a little voice in the back of my head was saying that something always goes wrong when I say that.

We stepped into the groundbridge and with a flash of light later we were stepping out onto the wet Seattle streets. Lola opened her umbrella with a click as I pulled up my hood. I peered through the light rain to see where we were. The groundbridged had placed us in an alley just off Royal Brougham Way, right by Safeco Field actually. The Olympiana was located several blocks away on Sixth Avenue Street. As we walked to the club, my eyes took in our surroundings, taking in the familiar sights with a sense of happiness and anxiousness. I nearly jumped a foot in the air when I heard police sirens in the distance. For a minute I had this ridiculous notion that the P.D. had found out I'd returned and were coming after me. I hunched my shoulders and refused to meet the eyes of any passerby.

Lola scoffed at my antics. "Relax, will you? Were you this bad when you visited with your mom a month ago?"

I grimaced. "No, I was worse, much worse. Sure you wouldn't rather do something else? What about going to the shooting range?" Lola was a formidable markswoman and took great pride in showing off her astonishing aim in front of others. It was little wonder that she got along so well with Ironhide.

Lola shook her head. "No, it's been too long since I've gone dancing. Besides, you're more likely to run into your old cop friends at the ranges than at the club."

"Shit, you're right." I sighed.

"You'd be surprised how often I am." Lola said. "Ah, here we are."

The Olympiana loomed ahead of us. There were no neon signs, no flashy decorations to show that this plain, brick building was one of the most popular clubs in mid-Seattle. The only evidence of any activity was the slight rumble of music filtering out of the door and the long queue of party-goers waiting to get in. Lola bypassed the line and headed straight for the entrance guarded by a one bald, well-muscled bouncer.

Lola smiled and ran up to hug the man. "Todd, it's so good to see you!"

The surprised bouncer laughed. "Lola? Where the hell have you been, girl?"

"Oh, here, there, and everywhere in between." Lola sighed.

"Could've given us a call or wrote a letter or something." Todd said. "We've all been worried about you. Haven't heard a word from you in two months. Val didn't get you sucked into the Witness Protection Program did she?" he grinned at me.

"Gee thanks Todd." I huffed as I shook his hand in greeting.

"Ah you know I don't mean any harm." Todd chuckled. "But seriously, where'd you all disappear to?"

Lola winked at him. "If we told you then we'd have to kill you."

"No seriously."

I shook my head. "I'm afraid it's a long and complicated story, Todd. Right now all we want to do is go in and have some fun. Actually, it'll be Lola that will have fun. I'll be stuck babysitting."

Lola rolled her eyes and stepped on my foot, pointed heel digging in.

Todd laughed again. "Ever the reluctant partier, aren't you Val? Alright go on in. And remember Lola, keep away from the bar or you'll get thrown out."

Lola pouted, hands on her hips. "I'm nineteen, I know to stay away. Where's the faith?"

"Club policy says that I tell that to all patrons under the drinking age." Todd reminded her. "You on the other hand, Val, can go crazy. Heck you could use some booze to loosen up."

I rolled my eyes as we walked inside. "Thanks Todd."

"You two have fun." He called.

We walked down the short hallway and into the main room. The floor was laid out in a large square. A long bar ran along one wall while booths lined the other three. In the center, down a small set of steps was the dance floor where patrons were currently jamming along to a remixed version of Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue". I lead the way to our usual booth along the back wall, near an emergency exit. I shucked off my coat and threw it onto the seat and sat down.

Lola placed her umbrella and purse on the table. "You coming?" she gestured to the dance floor.

I shook my head. "Not yet, give me a little while to relax, ok? Go ahead, have fun, flirt with some guys, just don't do anything stupid."

Lola shrugged. "Alright then. But if you don't get up and dance in an hour I'll drag your ass out onto the floor and force you to do the Macarena."

I laughed. "Deal."

She nodded then walked down the steps to the dance floor, in a matter of seconds I lost sight of her in the crowd. Sighing, I leaned back into the seat, letting the music wash over me, slowly making me relax. I absentmindedly traced a finger down the whirlwind tattoo, Euros' symbol, on the underside of my left forearm. In the back of my mind I could hear the wind spirit giggle as if it were being tickled. I smiled at the spirit's amusement. My gaze wandered up to the multicolored lights that flickered on the ceiling; likewise my mind wandered elsewhere, eventually landing on the topic of Wheeljack. The 'Bot was cocky and tough but had a decent sense of humor. Yet he always seemed to hold back when joining in on a group activity. He got along with everyone, but the only one who he really seemed to put an effort to be forward with was Bulkhead, the rest of us he sort of kept a distance. I guess it was that Wrecker thing that Optimus had told me about. Speaking of Optimus, Wheeljack didn't seem to hold too much respect for the leader. He definitely was more of a solo kind of guy. I wondered if he'd always been like that or if the trait had been developed after spending so much time wandering among the stars. I ponder this for a while, until I realized almost an hour had passed. As I stood and stretched my eyes scanned over the club, landing on the entrance just as three figures entered.

My ex-teammate Joey Hopps, and two other members of the Seattle P.D.; Lucas Casabana, and Eugene Moran.

Shit.

Whatever futile hopes I'd had about them simply coming to enjoy the music were quickly dashed away as they fanned out, eyes scanning the crowd.

Double shit.

I ducked my head and hurried down onto the dance floor. I squished myself amongst the many jamming bodies, looking for Lola. Upon finding her I grabbed her arm and started to drag her off the floor. When she started to protest I shut her up with a glare and motioned with my head to Hopps and the others.

Lola's eyes widened. "Crap, I'd forgotten Todd was friends with Joey. He must have called him."

We hurried back to our table and grabbed our stuff. I heard a shout and turned to see Moran bearing down on us.

I pushed Lola. "Come on, out the back door."

We pushed past the double doors and out into an alley. I grabbed Lola's umbrella and shoved it through the handles.

"That might hold him for a bit." I lead Lola down the alley and out to the corner of the street.

"Figures, though, that the rain is picking up." Lola sighed. I tossed her my coat. "Thanks." We hurried down a block then had to stop.

"Alright, hold up for a minute." Lola winced and leaned against the wall. "I can't run in these heels." I watched as she pulled off the stilettos. She reached into her bag and brought out a pair of flats, Lola slipped into the shoes and threw the heels into her bag. She shrugged when she saw me stare at her. "What? Just because I want to look good doesn't mean I'm not prepared incase crap happens."

I heard familiar voice just around the corner. "Let's get moving."

We took off, heading south. At the sound of sirens I ducked us into another alley, waiting for the sound to move on. Instead, it grew louder.

I cursed. "I don't know whether I should be honored, afraid, or annoyed that they're actually sending on-duty cops to look for me."

"What street are we on?" Lola panted.

I looked around. "South Walker, I think."

"What are we going to do? Ratchet won't groundbridge us back."

"We'll have to find some place to hold up until the heat dies down." I said, hating how I sounded like a criminal.

"This is my fault." She groaned. "I should have never chosen to come back here. I'm sorry."

I patted her shoulder. "It's alright. We couldn't have known they would go this crazy over our reappearance. We just gotta hide somewhere for a little while."

Lola laughed bitterly. "And where would you suggest? Everyone we know also knows at least one other cop and would be sure to rat us out."

I snapped my fingers as a thought hit me. "Not everyone."

Lola's eyes widened as she realized who I was talking about. "No, no way. You know I can't stand him."

"We don't have a choice. Besides, he's not that bad. You two just like to antagonize each other, honestly it's worse than you and Zig-zag."

"I'm not going!"

"Fine, stay here and wait for the cops. Don't forget, they know you too." I pointed out.

Lola stomped her foot. "Alright, I'll go. But don't expect me to be civil to him."

"I never do." I sighed. "Now let's go."

"Next time we're going clubbing in Las Vegas." Lola grumbled. "No one knows us in Vegas."

* * *

It was just after two in the morning when we arrived at junkyard on the outskirts of Port Terminal five. We picked our way through rusted old cars to a rundown garage. Nothing about this place showed signs of being lived in, but I knew better. I banged on the garage door.

A heavily accented voice answered. "Yo! Read the sign, I don' work after midnight. So get lost!"

"Sorry to intrude on your beauty sleep." I called. "But we need some help."

Curses and crashes echoed from inside as the inhabitant rushed to the garage door. With a creak the metal slab was pushed upward, held up by a young man with long, disheveled black hair. "_Dios mio. _Val, you might want to give a guy more warning."

"Sorry about that Raul. Can we come in?"

He shrugged. "Uh yeah sure. Wait, I'm not in trouble am I?" At twenty years old Raul was a brilliant mechanic; unfortunately not all the cars he worked on were legit. Needless to say, he's had a few run-ins with the law. That's how I met him. For several years he was my informant on the goings on of anything from gang activity to illegal street racing, and in return I did my best to keep him out of trouble. Raul was a really good person who just got stuck with some really bad luck. He didn't like working on stolen cars, but one had to make a living and this was how he made his.

"No you're not in trouble." I said.

"Ok, well, come on in." he waved me in then froze when he saw Lola. The air grew tense as the two faced off.

I stepped between them before any blood could be shed. "Alright, before you two start, just stop ok? We don't have time for your verbal sparring. So Lola I don't want to hear any snide comments or insults from you. That goes the same for you, Raul. In fact why don't you two just not talk to each other at all?" I had never understood why they disliked each other so much. But putting them together was like mixing gasoline and fire; something was always bound to explode.

They glared at each other then nodded slowly. Lola walked into the garage, head held high. I clasped Raul's shoulder. "Thanks."

"There'd better be a good reason for this." He grumbled as he lowered the door.

"There is." I said as I looked around. Half the garage actually served its purpose, filled with tools and bits and bobs of vehicles. The other half served as Raul's home. A decrepit mini-fridge sat in a corner next to a wobbly table with miss-matched chairs. There was a sagging couch and a small bed rested against the far wall. "Nothing's changed much, I see."

"Yeah, I'm thinking I might want to start renovating, maybe add an indoor pool." Raul deadpanned as he tied his hair back with a rubber band. "Alright, now tell me why you're here."

"We're hiding from the P.D." I said.

He gave me a dubious look. "No really, why are you here?"

I stared at him until my words had sunken in.

Raul's eyes widened as he realized I wasn't joking. "Are you serious? You're running from the cops?"

"Yep."

"You, Val Darby, are hiding from the Seattle police?"

"I believe I just said that." I grumbled.

"Will you just hold on for a sec." Raul walked back to the garage door, opened it and looked up at the sky.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for pigs." He stated.

"What?"

"The day Valerie Darby runs from the Seattle P.D. is the day pigs fly and hell freezes over." Raul said. "Quick, someone get me a thermometer to stick in the ground."

I crossed my arms. "Haha, you're a riot."

"I'll be here all week." He said, shutting the door again. "So what the hell happened that you're being chased by your own teammates? Those guys are practically family to you for crying out loud!"

I sighed and sunk onto the couch, Lola sat down beside me. "You know I've been gone for a couple months right?"

Raul nodded.

"Well, I never actually gave the guys down at the department a heads up. I took two weeks leave and end up gone for two months." I said. "And I'm not coming back to the force. Only I haven't told them that."

"You're not coming back? What kind of shit are you in?" he asked.

I glanced at Lola, she shrugged. I looked back at Raul. "Some big government stuff."

"What kind of stuff? Like the _Bourne_ _Trilogy_ sort of stuff?"

"More like _Men in Black_ kind of stuff."

Raul snorted. "You're pulling my leg."

"Oh, just show him something." Lola sighed.

My gaze wandered around the room, noticing the many cobwebs. "You got a bit of a spider problem." I tapped into Anansi's power.

"What's this got to do wi—HOLY SHIT!" He jumped onto the couch as dozens of spiders skittered along the floor and down from the ceiling. Lola stared straight ahead, trying to look unfazed as the little arachnids crawled over her feet. I pointed to the door and the spiders followed, crawling under the metal and out of the garage. The stunned silence stretched on for a few minutes.

I cleared my throat. "They'll probably be back in a few days, just so you know."

Raul kept opening and closing his mouth, doing a great impression of a fish out of water.

Lola rolled her eyes. "Well at least he didn't faint, he's got Zig-zag beat."

"Wha-wha-wha-wha…how…when…" Raul didn't seem quite capable of forming a complete sentence.

"Believe me, Raul, you haven't seen anything yet." I said. "But for the sake of your safety and sanity I'm going to stop here."

He swallowed loudly. "So if you've been involved in this freaky…whatever this is, what are you doing back here?"

Before I could speak Lola cut in. "It's my fault; I wanted to have a night out and dragged Val here, though I never expected that they'd find us so fast or be so aggressive about it."

Raul snorted. "What do you expect? Val was their up and coming star cop. Then she disappears for two months then suddenly shows up without some much as popping into the station to say hello. I'd be tracking her down for an explanation too." He gestured to the door where the spiders had left. "I'm guessing they don't know about…all that shit, right?"

I nodded. "And I'd appreciate that they not know. I'm putting a good deal of faith in you, Raul."

"I'm touched." He said earnestly then smiled. "You know, I always thought there was something odd about you, like you had some sort of sixth sense."

"You're not far off."

"So you can like, see ghosts?"

I nodded.

Raul whistled in amazement. "So did you ever talk to anyone famous that was dead?"

"Nope."

"What? Why not? I mean you could be talking to Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley or—"

"I'm not going to summon Michael Jackson." I deadpanned.

"Why? You a Michael hater?" he asked.

"No I just don't believe in bothering the spirits of celebrities. They've had to put up with crazed fans and paparazzi while they lived; they deserve some peace and quiet in death."

"Ok but what about if—"

I raised my hand to silence him as my comm. link pinged to life.

:Val, this is Optimus. Are you currently still in Seattle?:

:Yeah, why?:

:A…situation has occurred; Bulkhead has been taken hostage by Dreadwing.:

:Where is Bulkhead's location?: I asked.

:I'm sending the coordinates to you now.:

I flinched as the information uploaded into my processor; I still wasn't used to these databursts. I stiffened as I recognized where Bulkhead's signal was coming from. :Optimus, they're in Seattle Port Terminal five. Hell, they're practically right next to us!:

:Do not engage alone, Val. Wheeljack and I are currently in route; wait for our arrival.:

:What's your ETA?:

:Approximately thirty minutes.: he replied.

I checked the time; it was just after three in the morning. The day shift would be starting in an hour. Luckily it was early on a Saturday morning so there would only be about a half dozen employees working. :Alright, I'll meet you there.:

Raul was looking at me with a dubious expression. "What was with the faces?"

"My boss contacted me." I said.

"IN YOUR HEAD?"

I shrugged. "Kinda. Listen, I need to go."

"What about me?" Lola asked.

"Stay here."

"WHAT?" the exclamation came from both of them.

"Just for a bit, I'll be back I promise." I said. "Just please don't kill each other while I'm gone." Before either could say a word, I walked to the garage door opened it and slipped outside. The rain had dissolved into a thick fog; the clouds in the east were rapidly becoming a lighter shade of grey. I heard the rattle of the garage door behind me and turned to see Lola walking towards me. "Lola, I know you don't like Raul, but you come alo—"

"No that wasn't why I came out here." She sighed. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for dragging you into this. It's just…you're life's been changing so much lately that I was afraid I wouldn't fit into it anymore."

"Ah hell Lola, you're family, I wouldn't ditch like that just because things are changing." I smiled. "And just to be clear, I really could do with a girl's night out every once in awhile. Next time, though, let's make sure to pick some place far away from Seattle, ok?"

Lola grinned. "So is that a yes to Vegas?"

I rolled my eyes. "You know, maybe you should come monster hunting with me sometime. That's always a ball of fun."

"No thanks. Unless it's in someplace like Hawaii or the Bahamas, there's no way you're getting me to go chasing after the boogeyman."

"Your loss." I shrugged. "So…are we supposed to have some sort of BFF hug or something?"

Lola rolled her eyes. "Just go and beat up some Decepticons you smartass."

I saluted her. "Yes Ma'am. Oh hold on a second." I untied my boots and handed them to her. "Watch these for me; I don't want to shred them when I transform."

She stared at me. "You've got to be kidding. Out of that entire outfit, you only want me to save your scuffed up _boots_?"

I laughed and jogged off. "Bye Lola!" I called over my shoulder.

"This isn't over! I'll just buy something else to replace those clothes and they'll be ten times dressier! Mark my words, you'll regret shredding them!" she yelled at me.

I hopped over the fence separating the junkyard from the port. The fog provided great cover as I made my way over to the massive stacks of shipping crates. The sound of an aircraft echoed overhead and I looked up to see a small ship land nearby. Stretching my limbs, I began my transformation; in a matter of seconds I was in bi-pedal mode. I smirked when I saw the torn pieces of the shirt fluttering in the breeze. "Oops." I kicked the scraps of cloth between two crates. Needless to say, I didn't feel too bad about losing this set of clothing. Treading lightly, I crept to where I'd seen the ship land. I caught the murmur of voices as I turned the corner and saw Wheeljack and Optimus cautiously making their way through the maze of crates.

"Hey good-looking." I called to Optimus. They both started and spun around, blasters raised and ready. I held my hands up. "Whoa, there."

They lowered their guns. "Val," Optimus admonished. "You cannot simply walk up and announce yourself unexpectedly. If we had not paused to recognize—"

I rolled my optics. "Really, you actually thought for a second that I was a Decepticon? First of all; what Decepticon would hit on you?"

Optimus stiffened and looked away awkwardly.

I stared at him. "Wait a minute; _did_ a Decepticon hit on you once?"

"We need to be moving on with the rescue." Optimus said, quickly turning away.

"Holy cheese and crackers! You have been hit on by a Decepticon!" I cracked up. "This is great! You gotta tell me who. Come on, give me a name. Should I be jealous?" I teased then laughed.

Optimus snapped on his battle mask to hide his expression.

"Aw, you're embarrassed. Don't be, you're a very good looking 'Bot; you shouldn't be surprised when others take notice." I managed to keep a straight face for few seconds then dissolved into fits of laughter.

"When you two are done flirting, maybe we can rescue Bulkhead." Wheeljack grumbled.

Instantly, I sobered up. "Sorry, had a long night, I needed a laugh."

"Let's just get moving." He said. "Looks like Bulk's signal is coming from this way." Wheeljack took the lead with me following behind and Optimus covering the end.

"We are close to population." Optimus said. "Remember—"

"Blasters and fuel pumps don't mix." Wheeljack deadpanned.

"Uh, speaking of blasters, I don't suppose either of you brought a spare I could borrow?" I asked. Despite all of its unique abilities, my frame lacked any guns and rejected any attempts made to add them. This didn't bother me so much; my claws were sharp enough to pierce metal and my frame, though large for a femme, was incredibly light and its distinctive build allowed for great agility. So hand to hand combat wasn't a problem for me. But when it came to long-range fighting, I was shit out of luck if I couldn't transform into dragon mode, my fire being the only long-range weapon I had, unless I'd brought a hand-held blaster with me. But I found those hard to cart around when in Pretender mode; giant guns tend to draw attention.

Both 'Bots shook their helms at my request.

I sighed. "Great. Maybe I should transform and cover you guys from the sky."

"No. If Dreadwing sees you taking to the air he might harm Bulkhead. For now, we play the game his way." Optimus said.

"Our boy is just up ahead." Wheeljack pointed out.

We turned the corner to see Bulkhead pinned to a stack of crates. His arms were held back by some sort of electrical cuffs and on his chest was a strange contraption that looked like a cross between a frisbee and an evil boomerang.

Bulkhead smiled nervously at us. "Hey guys."

I rubbed my helm. "You know, sadly, seeing this, the only word that comes to my mind right now _kinky_."

"I'm strapped to a bomb and you're cracking jokes?" Bulkhead rolled his optics.

"Just trying to _diffuse_ the tension." I caught the look Optimus was giving me. "Shutting up."

Wheeljack approached his fellow Wrecker cautiously. "You really got yourself into a heap of scrap this time, Partner."

"Stay back, Jackie!" Bulkhead warned him.

Wheeljack ignored him. "Better get to work."

"Have you diffused one of these before?" Optimus asked.

Wheeljack touched a switch on the bomb and the center opened up. "Fail safes, dummy-leads, booby-traps; this thing's a work of art."

"Oh Primus and Gaea, you don't know what you're doing." I threw my hands up in despair.

"Just keep watch." Wheeljack snapped.

I huffed but looked around, sharp optics scanning the horizon. A figure stood atop a tower of crates in the distance. I narrowed my optics causing my vision to zoom in. They were right about him being Skyquake's twin; other than the paintjob (and fully functioning arm) Dreadwing looked exactly like his deceased brother. The Decepticon didn't appear to notice that I'd spotted him; it looked like he was talking on a comm. link. I elbowed Optimus and nodded in the 'Con's direction. Optimus stared at him for a moment, a contemplative look in his optics then he turned and gestured for me to follow.

"Since it seems doubtful that Wheeljack will be able to diffuse the bomb in time, we must find a way to capture Dreadwing and convince him to disable it."

I tapped my chin in thought as I looked around. "Can't cause an avalanche of crates; too conspicuous and might get him killed." My optics landed on the cranes at the docking bay. "That might do the trick." I pointed to the magnetic hoister used to lift the crates. "You drop that on top of him and that should be enough to bring him down."

Optimus nodded. "I shall draw his attention while you climb to the top of the crane."

"Aye-aye, Captain." I saluted then ran off through the maze of crates.

Not two minutes later I heard Optimus' voice. "Dreadwing, if you are anything like Skyquake I know that you value loyalty and honor."

"Is there a point to your bluster, Prime?" A deep voice answered.

"Only that Megatron knows nothing of those principles. He lives solely for destruction and conquest. But there is another path; deactivate the bomb."

I rounded a stack of crates just in time to hear blaster fire in the distance. "Insulting his boss; probably not the best way to get Dreadwing to cooperate, Optimus." I muttered under my breath as I ran toward the cranes. Once there, I began to scale up the side, hauling myself up along the metal beams with ease. I made my way to the hoister and started to cut through the steel cables with my claws. The sound of heavy footsteps drew my attention. Bulkhead appeared several yards away, running towards the water. Before I could call out Wheeljack jumped in front of him. He managed to stop Bulkhead from taking a dive; he spoke urgently to the big green Autobot, gesturing at me. I gave a quick wave then returned to sawing off the cables. The hoist groaned slightly, held on by a single silver cable. Optimus rounded the corner, spotted me, and ran towards the crane. He passed beneath me just as Dreadwing came into few. The Decepticon approached slowly, confident that he had his prey cornered.

Come on, big guy, just a few more steps.

He stepped directly beneath me. I jumped onto the hoist, the added weight causing the cable to snap. With a whoop I plummeted downward. The hunk of metal hit the 'Con with a loud thud, pinning him to the ground. my legs shook from the impact as I staggered off. "Owowowowowowow."

Optimus, Bulkhead, and Wheeljack surrounded the fallen Decepticon. "Dreadwing, diffuse the bomb." Optimus demanded. "Or fall victim to your own device."

Dreadwing looked unfazed. "I will gladly sacrifice myself to avenge my brother."

Optimus matched his gaze. "Then we will in turn gladly join the Allspark with _our_ brother."

"And with you." Wheeljack smirked. "You'll never shake us."

"Great, I guess this means I'll be reincarnated again." I groaned. "And I was just getting use to this body."

We were bluffing of course. At least, I hope we were. But regardless, we all kept a straight face; couldn't let Dreadwing call our bluff. The seconds ticked by, Bulkhead getting jumpier as each passed. Optimus continued to stare down Dreadwing. The 'Con kept up his expressionless appearance, but I could tell he was thinking. The air grew tenser and tenser. I swear I would've jumped a foot in there air if there'd been any noise. I couldn't read the glyphs on the bomb but I could tell it was getting down to the wire.

Finally Dreadwing relented. "Very well."

Wheeljack and Optimus lifted the hoist off of him. Dreadwing stood and leaned over Bulkhead. Bulk flinched away, but Dreadwing simply reached out and plucked a single blue wire. The spinning glyphs came to a stop. Bulkhead let out a huge sigh of relief.

Wheeljack nodded. "I had it narrowed down to the blue or the yellow…or the red."

I rolled my optics. "Just listening to you makes me want to run as far as possible in the opposite direction."

There was a high pitched beeping then all hell broke loose. Dozens of crates exploded, raining fire and twisted hunks of metal down on us. In the chaos, Dreadwing made his escape. I might've chased after him if it weren't for the fact that I was staring shell-shocked at the destruction that son of a bitch had caused. This would take weeks—months to cleanup. And then there'd be lawsuits and investigations.

Wheeljack seemed unperturbed. "So, who do we call for cleanup?"

I was about to snarl something at him when I heard sirens in the distance. "Shit, you guys need to get out of here."

"What about you?" Bulkhead asked.

"I have to get Lola. I'll see you all back at base." I dashed off before they could call after me.

I ran around stacks of burning crates, transforming to Pretender mode as I did. I was maybe several hundred yards away from the junkyard when a cop car came skidding into my path. I tried to backpedal but a second car blocked me. Several more surrounded me, officers scrambling out and pointing guns at me. One stepped forward and I groaned; it was Hopps. He looked at me, then at the chaos of the port terminal. He raised his gun. "Put your hands on your head and turn around."

* * *

My fingers tapped out a staccato beat against the armrest of my chair. I kept my eyes glued to the boots of my Pretender apparel, afraid to look up into the eyes of the man sitting before me.

"What. The. Hell. Darby?" The words were quiet, total opposite of their usual volume. I flinched at their softness. The Chief was only this quiet when there was a serious problem.

I risked a quick glance up at him. Chief Jameson was rigid with fury, his eyes burned with hurt and betrayal. I hung my head in shame. I should've contacted them months ago instead of ignoring the problem; I shouldn't have let it get this out of hand. Now I've hurt them all, especially Chief, the guy who kept me steady after my dad died. The man who looked after me as I got my footing as a cop. Seeing the pain in his eyes sent a knife of pain through my spark.

"Were any of the port workers injured?" I asked timidly.

"No." The single syllable reply, tough and emotionless.

I sagged in relief. "Thank goodness."

"Odd words to say for someone who caused the explosions."

I snapped my head up. "I told you I didn't do it."

"Then who did?" Jameson demanded.

"I…can't…tell you."

"Well then right now you're our prime suspect. You were caught fleeing the scene—"

"I wasn't…fleeing." I mumbled.

"—you're a Seattle cop that went AWOL for two months, possibly mentally unstable. For God's sakes kid, what the hell are you doing?"

"It's complicated." I sighed.

Chief slammed his hand down on the interrogation table. "Well, start un-complicating it!"

The door to the interrogation room swung open with a bang. I turned and almost cried with joy; Agent Fowler stood in the doorway, looking tired but determined.

Chief Jameson scowled. "Who the hell are you?"

"Special Agent William Fowler." Fowler flashed his badge. "I've received reports that you've detained one of my agents."

"One of your agents?" Chief looked confused.

Fowler nodded and handed him a file. "For the past two months Valerie Darby has been working with my department to uncover plans of M.E.C.H., a terrorist group and the culprits behind the bombings at the port."

Chief looked over the papers, stunned expression still on his face. "So, Val has been working for the government all this time?"

"Yes, we at the Pentagon have come to view Miss Darby as an invaluable asset to national security." I wondered how Fowler managed to keep a straight face when he said that.

"But, how come we were never informed?"

"This is highly classified intel, Chief Jameson. For your safety we needed to keep Miss Darby's contact between you and your officers at a minimum. Now if you please, un-cuff my agent."

Dazedly Jameson clicked off my cuffs. I stood and slowly wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Chief."

He hugged me back. "It's fine, kiddo. Just…NEVER PULL THIS KIND OF SHIT EVER AGAIN!"

I laughed, knowing that his bellowing meant he was back to his normal self.

"Don't you laugh, Darby! Do you know what you've put this whole department through? I don't care if you're a federal agent now, I'll kick your ass if you ever pull a stunt like that again!"

"Love you too, Chief." I hugged him one more time then turned and left the room with Fowler. The main floor became completely silent at my appearance. The many cops were staring at me apprehensively.

Jameson walked up behind me and yelled over my heads. "She's clear; working for the government now. Our Val is a federal agent."

The room was quiet for a second then a roaring cheer tore through the ranks. The men and women of the Seattle P.D. rushed forward to congratulate me. I lost count of how many times I was hugged and clapped on the back as I was passed from person to person. Eventually I bumped into Hopps. "So you're some hotshot secret agent now, huh?"

"Yep, so if you ever point a gun at me again I have the right to kick your balls so hard then end up at your throat."

He smiled. "You know, I never believe you went bad, not for a second."

I looked at him skeptically. "Oh, really?"

"Yep, in fact I was the one who said you'd moved on to a higher position. Even won a few bucks in the process." He smugly held up several twenties.

I shoved him. "You all had bets on me?"

He ruffled my hair. "Of course."

"Darby." Fowler waved me to the exit.

"Get going, Val. I'm sure we'll see you again." Hopps said. "You'll get bored with the rest of the world soon enough."

I laughed. "I doubt it. See you Hopps."

"See you Darby."

I hurried over to Fowler, turning to give one last wave to my old friends, my old family.

"Thanks Fowler." I said as we exited the building and stepped into the morning light.

"Don't thank me, thank the Boss Bot. He's the one who called me in. Apparently he saw you getting detained and got worried. By the way your ride's here." He said as a familiar red and blue semi pulled up to the curb.

The passenger door opened and I hopped in. "So I hear that you're my knight in shining space armor."

"I could not allow you to be blamed of a crime you did not commit." Optimus rumbled.

"Well thanks. Oh, but what about Lola? Someone needs to get her."

"Ironhide has already picked her up. And just in time too, apparently she was close to coming to blows with the young man who owned the garage you had hidden at."

I grimaced. "Yeah, I gotta make it up to Raul somehow. But first I'm going back to base and giving Wheeljack a piece of my mind."

Optimus let out a noise that suspiciously sounded like a chuckle. "That shall be hard to do since he has left to travel the planet on his own."

"Damn." I leaned back against the seat. "So who's this 'Con that tried to flirt with you?"

"Where is that groundbridge?"

**Heehee, I can't wait for Val to meet Knock Out. **

**Now it's time for a few replies to my amazing readers. **

**TheChippedCup: **I'm glad you liked last chapter. Though I hate to tell you that it won't be the last we see of Caelan MacSharnon. And to answer your dog question; my dog is a mutt we're not quite sure what's all in her, we do know there's at least some German Sheppard in her, other than that we're clueless (my dad thinks she might be part goat since she seems capable of eating anything and everything…).

**Sailor Shinzo:** The next paranormal case won't be for another chapter or two, and it's going to involve a basilisk (no Harry Potter jokes please) and a few Decepticons (I'm not saying who though) that's all of a spoiler I'm going to give. *cackles evilly*

**Autobot StarRacer: ***whimpers* ok, here's the chapter, please stop glaring at me. I'm sorry for the holdup on the Loch Ness chapters; I was in a bit of a funk. I'll try to keep my updates consistent (sort of, kind of, maybe…)

**MissMary: **Highgrade. That's what Ratchet and Ironhide were wagering. And now Ratchet owes 'Hide a few cubes. : )

**Luna Prime-Awesomeness: **Yeah I loved that line too; it's those little sayings that help make Val who she is. And yes, Val is going to have to wait awhile; this story is going to be much longer than Valiant Spirits so there is going to be much more time for relationship development between Val and Optimus.

**Fallenfaeangel: **I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. : ) I love mythology too and love blending it into modern life (are you a fan of Rick Riordan? he does some amazing work with Greek and Egyptian mythology). I was aware that Que was another name for Wheeljack, but sadly the Wheeljack in the Prime universe is a fighter, not an inventor, so I decided to sort of split the names and make Que the zany scientist because I like his character so much. I didn't know, though, that Bulkhead was another name for Ironhide, I'd always assumed they were different characters like in Transformers: Animated. Oh well *shrugs* guess I just learned something new. And yes, I do plan on incorporating the fae into a few cases (I know for a fact that I'll be writing a case involving banshees.)

**That's all for now folks. **

**Until next chapter, **

**Adieu.**


	8. Birthdays for all shapes and sizes

**Sorry for the holdup; I was busy shopping for college (Gah! It's my freshman year, I'm so nervous). Anywho, this is sort of a random filler chapter. Two things to note before you begin 1. (I forgot to mention this at the beginning of last chapter) I do not own Raul; he's a human G1 character who'll be making several more appearances when a certain 'Bot comes to earth (energon cookies to whoever can guess which Autobot it is). 2. In reference to the 'Con flirting comment (I know most of you figured out who I was talking about, but just in case someone didn't get it.) I meant Knock Out, particularly referencing the "sweet rims" comment made in "Duex Ex Machina" episode way back in season one. Ok, I'll stop bugging you all. Enjoy the chapter. **

**I don't own Transformers.**

"Believe me, when I discover who committed such a heinous act there will be hell to pay. So confess now and your punishment may be less severe." Zig-zag brandished a wooden spoon threateningly at the four victims of his interrogation who were trapped on the couch in the main hangar. "Imagine if you will, a beautiful cake cooling on the kitchen counter in the human barracks. This symbol of confectionary perfection just waiting for the butter crème icing that would complete this heavenly image when suddenly a villainous figure creeps into the room and rips this loveliness to bits, devouring it like the glutton he or she is, leaving only crumbs behind." Ziggy shuddered. "Oh god, the _horror_."

Miko, Raf, and Jack stared at Ziggy, wondering if the hacker had finally lost his marbles. Lola simply looked annoyed at his antics.

I rolled my eyes and snatched the spoon from his hand, hitting him over the head with it. "Zig-zag I think you're taking this a bit too far. I have more than enough ingredients to make another cake so just chill."

"Dude, it's just a cake." Miko said, missing the pointed looks I was giving her to be quiet.

Zig-zag looked for all the world like he was about to murder the girl. "Just a cake? _Just a cake?_ Listen you—"

"Ok, I'm going to work before Zig-zag starts his crazy rant." Lola stood up from the couch.

Ziggy spun on her. "Why so quick to leave Lola? Got something to hide?"

Lola snorted. "You'd think I'd eat an entire cake?"

"Why not? I've seen you put away an entire box of Krispy Kremes."

"You were never to speak of that." Lola hissed at him.

I stepped in before the two could start throwing punches. "Enough. Ziggy, I don't know what happened to the cake, but no one here ate it. For all we know it could've been a poltergeist with a sweet tooth. Maybe it was mice."

Lola shuddered. "Well on that disturbing note, I'm leaving. Hey Chromia," she called to the femme who was standing nearby. "Do you mind giving me a lift to work?" Partly out of need for some spare cash and partly out of boredom, Lola had taken up a waitressing job at a local restaurant where she worked evenings on the weekdays.

"Well I'd better start on that second cake." I sighed.

Jack stood up. "I'll help, if you want."

Ziggy narrowed his eyes. "Feeling guilty for eating the first one?"

I smacked him on the head with the spoon again. "Zig-zag, neither Jack, Miko, or Raf were here when the cake was eaten. You know they were at a little place called _school_."

"They could've snuck out!"

"Ok Ziggy, you need to just go back to the lab and blow up some stuff with Que." I grabbed his shoulders and steered him down the platform steps. "I will make a new cake, and I'll make sure nothing happens to it, so just relax."

"But, but, but, but…"

"But nothing." I said, shoving him in the direction of the lab. "Now get your buts outa here."

He slumped down the hallway, grumbling morosely to himself. I sighed and shook my head. Zig-zag and that sweet tooth of his sure could cause a lot of trouble. He could've been the one who ate the cake except I knew he had this silly superstition that if he snuck a bite before the cake was ready, bad luck would befall him. This belief was actually caused by a prank I had pulled on him years back, but I still have yet to tell him that.

"So do you still want help?"

I jumped a bit and turned to face Jack. He was standing beside me with his hands in his pockets, looking at the floor awkwardly. Things between me and Jack were strange. Not a bad strange, just a, well, confused sort of strange. We got along well enough, and often times we find ourselves bordering on friendship. Then we'd remember we were siblings and we'd sort of fade into awkwardness, neither of us sure how brothers and sisters were supposed to act around each other since neither of us had much experience being a sibling.

I smiled a bit. "Sure."

"So you must be some cook if Zig-zag was ready to kill to find out who ate that cake." Jake said as we walked toward the human barracks.

"Yeah, I'm decent in the kitchen." I sighed. "Dad couldn't cook much other than spaghetti so I learned very early that either I figured out how to use the oven and stove or I'd become close friends with Ragu. And neither Lola nor Ziggy can cook to save their lives. You know, for all Zig-zag brags about his tech skills, that guy can barely operate a microwave. He nearly caught our old apartment on fire when he tried to heat up a can of soup. And Lola, well her culinary skills go as far as making a peanut butter and banana sandwich that's it."

"Well at least you didn't have to live off tofu most of your life." Jack countered. "Do you want to know what Mom's idea of a cake is? A whole wheat carrot cake, no frosting. I don't even like carrots."

"How can a carrot cake even have whole wheat? It's made out of carrots."

Jack shrugged. "I dunno. But let me tell you, I didn't take that job at K.O Burger just for the money; I needed some greasy food to help counter all that health junk." He shuddered. "I love Mom, but sometimes I think she was born without taste buds."

I shook my head. "You poor thing, you'll have to come by the base some night and have dinner with Zig-zag and Lola."

"You still cook for them?"

"Sadly." I sighed. It was kind of pathetic that out of the three of us, I was the only person who knew how to make a meal and now I was the only person that didn't need to eat one. I really needed to get Ziggy and Lola to a cooking class.

"So you're not bothered by this mysterious cake thief?" Jack asked.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Kind of, mostly I'm just wondering who ate it. I know it wasn't you three or Zig-zag. Lola wouldn't eat a whole cake by herself. Although I wonder how and why she ate an entire box of doughnuts."

"But aren't you pissed off?"

"Not really, I mean sure I'm a little upset that all my hard work went to waste but it's not like I was going to eat it; I was just making the cake for you all."

"Yeah, but still…it is your birthday cake."

I arched an eyebrow. "Ah, so my secret is out."

Jack chuckled. "Kind of hard to keep it a secret when Mom's been running around in a panic trying to figure out what to give you tomorrow. She does have about fifteen birthdays to make up for."

"She shouldn't be getting me anything." I sighed.

"You don't like birthday presents?"

I shrugged. "Never really had much experience with them. Birthdays weren't really big between Dad and me." They just served as a reminder to us of why we left Jack and Mom; it was only days after my seventh birthday that my powers as a _Spiritus_ developed and my eyes changed to the colors that would seal my fate. "I did kind of get a big present on my twenty-first birthday though."

"What was it?"

"Everyone in the Seattle P.D. gave me a shot glass. I ended up getting over a hundred. It was a gag gift, but it was nice. Lola and I ended up using them for target practice."

We had arrived at the human barracks by then. The Autobot base was, after all, originally a U.S. missile silo so some of the old design still remained. These barracks were the only human quarters remaining after the 'Bots had renovated the place. There was a large rec room area that contained several worn and lumpy couches; there was a small mess hall and conjoining kitchen; a communal bathroom; and two large bunk rooms. Lola and Zig-zag had each taken a room for themselves. They had also added some personal touches throughout the quarters; Ziggy had hung a flat screen TV on the rec room wall complete with an extensive set of video game consoles and games (I was surprised that the kids didn't hang out here more but Miko had told me "no 'Bots, no fun"), Lola had hung dozens of posters of various singers, bands, and musicals and she was currently considering repainting the walls. Overall, I have to say that they had adjusted to living at the base very well. I led the way to the kitchen. A plate sat on the counter; on it was a single chunk of golden brown cake and lots of crumbs. They were all that was left of the cake I'd made.

Jack winced. "Ouch, that looks brutal."

"Yeah, no wonder Ziggy had a panic attack." I picked up the plate and offered it to Jack. "Well do you want to taste what's left of it?"

He held up his hands. "No thanks, since I'm not sure what ate it in the first place I'm not taking any chances."

"Fair enough." I tossed the crumbs into the trash. "But you still have to be the taste tester for the next one."

"Deal."

I grabbed a bowl and rooted around for the bag of flour. "Alright, can you grab the jar of applesauce?"

"Applesauce? I thought the cake was vanilla."

"I use applesauce to replace some of the oils in the cake. It makes the cake just as moist but it's healthier. And no, you can't taste the applesauce."

Jack just stared at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Alright kiddo, watch closely; you're about to get a crash course in baking."

"I don't know…"

"Trust me; you'll be glad you learned. The ladies love a man who knows his way around the kitchen." I laughed when Jack flushed bright red.

* * *

It may just be nerves, but I tend to get a little twitchy when I have a blaster pointed at my face.

It's a little intimidating; that's all I'm saying.

And it's probably not the best way to start a birthday.

I stared at the gun as it hummed with a growing charge, preparing to fire.

My opponent sneered. "Let's see you try to get out of this now."

I scowled then glanced over my attacker's shoulders and froze in horror. "Que, what the hell are you doing with a giant pipe bomb?!"

"What?" my opponent wheeled around only to find that no one was there.

I lunged, ramming my shoulder into his back. He toppled forward and landed on the floor with a loud thud. I placed a foot on his back to prevent him from standing. Leaning over, I rested my claws against his neck cables. "Dead."

"You cheated." Ironhide grumbled.

I took my foot off his back and helped him up. "You said to use whatever resources I had available to me to my advantage. And I did; your terror of Que."

Ironhide huffed and crossed his arms. "I ain't afraid of Que."

"Just the explosions he causes. "

"Yeah." Ironhide mumbled reluctantly.

I had been spending the past several hours training with Ironhide on the various situations I might find myself in while in battle. Our current problem we were working through was if I found myself up against an opponent with heavy firepower while I had none. An occurrence that would become quite common since I didn't have blasters of my own. So far the practice had been going well. And by well I mean I managed to not get blasted by Ironhide's cannons.

"Alright, let's go again." Ironhide huffed.

I sighed and plodded back down to the other end of the training room, tail dragging across the floor. I turned to face 'Hide. "You sure those guns are set at their lowest setting?"

Ironhide just grinned evilly. "Ready."

"Uh, 'Hide? Those guns are only supposed to stun, right?"

"Set."

"Ironhide?"

"Go!" He fired his cannons. I dodged to the right, cart-wheeling out of the line of fire. The blast did not damage the wall, it only left large smudges.

"Dude, you could've given me more of a heads up!" I snapped.

"Less talking, more dodging." Several more rounds came at me. I twisted and bobbed, whirling to get away from the blasts.

Right, now was the time to find those resources to use. I wasn't allowed to use my spirits in training; Ironhide insisted that I learned to fight without them. Jumping out of the way of another shot, I caught sight of the control panel by the door. Not only did the panel open the door but it also controlled the lights. Now _that_ I could use. I bolted around the room, moving too fast for 'Hide to get a clear shot. My claw pushed the control and the training room was plunged into near darkness, the only source of light being the soft red haze of an emergency light. Ironhide cursed and fumbled in the dark. I crouched then jumped, grasping the rafters of the training room. Waiting until he was beneath me, I let go of the beams and dropped on top of him. "So can I take a break now or do I need to keep kicking your can?"

"Ge' off." Ironhide grumbled, his face flat against the floor.

I hopped off. "So is that a yes?"

"Fine." He huffed. "Get outa here."

"Yes, sir." I mock saluted then headed for the door, turning the lights back on as I left.

There was nothing on my schedule for the rest of the day, so maybe I'd track down Zig-zag and challenge him to video game marathon. I walked to my quarters. The doors shut behind me as I shifted into Pretender mode. I padded over to my dresser and yanked out some clothes. There was a soft knock at the door. I looked up, frowning. Who would be knocking? "Hang on a sec, I'll be right there." I dressed and walked back to the door, opening it with the smaller control panel Ziggy had installed. The door opened to reveal my mom standing in front of me. "Oh, hey Mom."

"Hi Val, how've you been?"

"Uh, ok." Was it just me or did she look a bit nervous? "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Um," Mom bit her lip. "I didn't know if there was going to be some sort of party later on, but I'm stuck doing a double shift at the hospital so I won't be able to make it."

"It's fine. We weren't really planning much. The others were going to have some cake, that's about it." I said.

Mom frowned a bit. "You mean you're not going to have a party?"

"Not really, I'm just turning twenty-three. That's not really a big number as far as birthdays go."

"Well do the Autobots know at least?"

"Uh, I don't think so."

She looked outraged. "And why not?"

I held up my hands. "Mom, really, it's fine. I'm not sure if they even understand the concept of a birthday. Besides, birthdays aren't really that big of a deal to me."

Mom still looked upset, but she was calm at least. "I suppose you're right though I don't exactly agree with it."

"Uh, so what brings you here anyway?" I asked, trying to distract her a bit.

It worked, her expression changed back to that slight nervousness. "Well, like I said I won't be able to come later; I'm actually on my lunch break at the moment. But I wanted to give you your present."

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "You really didn't need to get me anything, Mom."

"This is your first birthday that we've gotten to celebrate since you were seven; of course I'm going to get you something." Mom said, stubbornness gleaming in her eyes. "But if it makes you feel better, this is sort of a gift for the whole family" She handed me a slip of paper. "Here."

I skimmed over it. "It's…an itinerary?"

Mom nodded. "For a trip to New England; I've been saving up for it for awhile. Jack's school lets out for summer vacation next week, so I thought we'd all go on a family trip. I mean, if you want to come." She looked down at her shoes nervously.

"Of course." I smiled. "This sounds great; I've heard New England is great in the summer, and I've wanted to visit Cape Cod."

She looked relieved. "That's wonderful."

"I'll have to ok it with Optimus first, but I don't see why he'd say no. Maybe we can ask Ratchet to groundbridge us there to save on air fare."

"Actually, I was planning on asking him—oh, uh, hello Lola."

Lola had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, beside us. She looked like she was ready to murder someone. "Hey Ms. D, I don't mean to interrupt but I need to talk to Val."

"What's wrong? The cake hasn't been eaten again, has it?"

Lola merely held up a torn up rag. Or at least I thought it was a rag. But upon closer inspection I recognized the soft, cream colored fabric. It was Lola's favorite sweater. Or rather, what was left of it. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Lola said frostily. "I walked into my room to find it shredded to bits on the floor, half of it is missing."

"Think it might have been the same person who ate the cake?"

"Whoever did it has just incurred the wrath of Lola. There shall be hell to pay." She growled.

I sighed and turned back to Mom. "Sorry, I gotta go deal with this madness. I'll talk to you later ok?"

Mom nodded. "Sure."

I pulled her into a brief hug. "Thanks for the gift." I turned to Lola. "Alright, let's see the crime scene." We hurried to the human barracks. Lola led the way into her room where her clothes were spilled out onto the floor. None of them appeared to be shredded though, so it was safe to assume that the sweater was the only unlucky victim. "You haven't seen anyone come in have you?"

She shook her head. "The kids are at school, Zig-zag's been locked in the lab with Que, and none of the 'Bots can fit in here. I don't know who could have done it." She ran her hands over the scrap of cloth. "This was cashmere, you know. Took me months of saving up to buy it."

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry."

"It's just a sweater." She choked a bit as she said this. "But what I really want to know is who did this. If it wasn't any of us then I'm afraid…"

"That we might have an intruder in the base." I finished. "Let's get looking then."

We searched the barracks from top to bottom. Whoever the culprit was, he or she was very good at covering their tracks; we couldn't find a single clue as to who might have done this. We ended up back in the rec room an hour later, sitting on the couches in frustrated silence. I eyed the door to the quarters. "Do you usually leave the doors open?" Now that I remembered it, the door to the barracks was also left open yesterday.

Lola shrugged. "Sometimes; it's too much of a hassle to punch in the code."

"Well from now on you're going to have to shut and lock them." I said. "Hopefully that will deter our mystery guest."

"So what are we going to do now?" Lola sighed.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I guess I'd better go inform Optimus of the situation. You should ask around; see if any of the others have been noticing any odd goings-on."

I headed off to the main hangar, not at all looking forward to telling Optimus that we had an intruder. Upon entering the hangar, I was confronted with a rather odd sight. Bumblebee was precariously standing on Bulkhead's shoulders, reaching for something above his head. I followed their gazes to find about a dozen balloons float near the high ceiling. Bulkhead staggered dangerously to the right. "Hurry up, Bee. You're not exactly a light weight."

:You're one to talk.: Bee chirred. :Besides, who let the balloons go in the first place?:

"Hey, I got big fingers! It's hard to hold onto those little strings!" he tilted to the left now. "W-whoa. Any day now."

Bumblebee stretched as far as he could but still missed by several feet. :I can't reach!:

"_Zephyros._" My right forearm tingled as the spirit filled the hangar with a gentle breeze, pushing the balloons down.

:Got 'em.: Bee chirped triumphantly. :Thanks Va—oh uh hey Val.:

I crossed my arms. "Hey Bee, Bulk, what exactly are you two doing?"

Bulkhead staggered a bit, still holding Bumblebee up. "Uh training?"

"Really? What kind of training involves balloons?"

Bumblebee whirred in alarm and toppled off Bulkhead's shoulders. He hit the ground with a loud thud as the balloons floated back up to the ceiling.

I sighed. "Alright, fess up. Whose idea was it to throw a surprise party?"

Bee held up his servos. :I plead the fifth.:

"You've been watching way too many _Law and Order_ shows." I turned to Bulkhead. "What about you, Wrecker?"

He looked straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact. "I know nothing."

"You two really want to play this game? How'd you guys even get the balloons anyway?"

"Well actually Mik—" Bee elbowed Bulkhead in the side. "I mean, uh, I know nothing."

"So this whole stolen cake and ripped sweater thing was all just a ruse to keep me distracted?"

The two 'Bots looked at each other in confusion. :Torn sweater? We don't know—:

"Well Ironhide hasn't seen anything. I couldn't get a hold of Ziggy or Que since they refuse to leave the lab. I don't know what their working on but it—guys, you were supposed to hide the balloons!" Lola scolded when she saw the decorations floating around the ceiling.

"You know, Lola, I'm sure you really wanted to keep this a secret from me, but was stealing the cake and ripping your favorite sweater necessary?"

She gave me a confused look. "You think I'd ruin my sweater just to keep you from finding out about the party? Really? Val, I love you, but I loved that sweater way more."

I sighed and shook my head. "You all are nuttier than squirrel poop." I marched up the platform steps and over to the couch. An open coke can left over from the other night was knocked on its side. The caffeinated liquid sat in a puddle on the floor. "You guys need to clean up after yourselves or Ratchet will have your heads." I bent to pick up the can and froze. Leading away from the puddle…were _paw prints. _Little canine-like tracks made from the spilled soda. How could I have missed them? I followed the prints down the steps and toward the hall. The tracks wore out before I reached the hall, but it was pretty obvious that our mysterious visitor was headed in that direction.

"I believe the base has been infiltrated by a Coca-cola consuming canine." I said.

"You bump your head there, Val?" Lola asked.

I pointed towards the hall. "Come, the hunt is afoot!"

I headed out of the main hangar. Behind me I could hear Lola snapping at Bulkhead and Bumblebee. "Don't you two try to sneak off! If I have to suffer through Val's crazy moment then so do you!"

"Is everyone supposed to act like this on their birthday?" Bulkhead grumbled.

I led the way through the halls checking off all closed doors; a dog wouldn't be able to get in to those rooms. Eventually we stumbled upon an old storage area. The place was so seldom used that it didn't even have a door. It was a perfect hiding place for a dog. I wandered in among the crates, noticing a paw print here and there in the dust. As I approached the far wall a low growl echoed through the storage room. I caught sight of a pair of yellow eyes and a flash of dusty brown fur.

"There really is a dog in here."

"Told you; the birthday girl is never wrong." I followed the creature around the bend, catching only glimpses of it before it disappeared into a narrow gap between two large crates, a third crate sat atop them. I crouched and peered inside.

"Uh Val are you sure you should be doing that? What if it has that disease thing; rabbits?" Bulkhead asked as another growl reverberated from the gap.

Lola stared up at him. "You mean rabies?"

"Yeah that."

I squinted into the dark. And what I saw made me smile. "Well, I think it's safe to say that they don't have rabies."

"_They_? There's more than one?" Lola asked.

I nodded. "And they're not dogs. They're coyotes."

"Coyotes?" Lola squeaked, moving to stand behind Bumblebee.

"Bulk, lift the top crate. _Gently_."

The green 'Bot slowly lifted the top box and peered down. "Well I'll be a rusted lobbing ball."

:What is it?: Bee hurried forward to see. He looked and let out a chirring noise that suspiciously sounded like he was cooing.

"Ok, now I have to see this for myself." Lola huffed.

"Here I'll help you up. Just be quiet and no sudden movements; don't want to spook them."

I heaved Lola up onto the crate. A moment later I heard a muffled squeal of delight from my friend. With a grunt I hauled myself up too and peered down at the sweet sight below. A female coyote lay in a little den made of bits of plants, paper scraps, and what was left of Lola's sweater. The wild canine was curled up on her side. Nestled into the curve of her body were three little pups so tiny they couldn't have been more than a few hours old. The female's mate hovered over her protectively. He stared up at us, letting out the occasional growl. When he seemed to consider us not a threat he chuffed and sat down beside his mate. The female licked his snout then leaned over to nuzzle the pups.

Lola squealed again. "Oh god, that is just too adorable. You know what? I don't care about the sweater anymore; it went to a good cause. Who knew coyotes had such good taste?"

:The little furry sparklings look so small, so breakable.: Bee whirred.

"They're called puppies, and yes they are very delicate. All young life on earth is." I said. A smile spread over my face. "So I guess it won't be just my birthday we'll be celebrating then. Welcome to the world, little ones."

Lola and I climbed off the crates and Bulkhead ever so gently placed the other back on top, covering the coyote family up in their comfortable darkness. "So how'd they manage to get in here anyway?"

:Over here.: Bee waved us over to part of the wall that wasn't covered with the metal sheeting, revealing the natural sandstone. He pointed to a small hole. :Think they used that?:

The hole was the beginning of a small tunnel, just big enough for a coyote to crawl through.

I nodded. "Probably, ten bucks says that leads outside."

"So momma and daddy coyote look for a safe place to have their pups and find their way in here." Lola mused. "Daddy coyote goes wandering around base looking for stuff to make a comfortable den so he uses my sweater which I left out on my bed. Heh, my bad."

"And he probably didn't want to go far from his mate to find food so he found his way into the kitchen and snuck the cake out." I added. "Crafty little fella."

"So what are we gonna do about them?" Bulkhead asked. "I mean, they can't stay here forever."

"In a few months the pups will be old enough that the family will leave. We'll just seal off the tunnel after they go. Until then we'll just have to make sure to keep the doors closed and not to leave food out. Don't want to encourage Mr. and Mrs. Coyote to stick around; they'll just have to bring in their food from the outside. BYOK: bring your own kill."

"So who's going to inform Ratchet of our new five new tenants?" Lola asked.

"It's my birthday; I'm exempt." I said.

"Not it; I have too many dents in my helm already." Bulkhead rumbled.

"Ratchet isn't exactly fond of me, so it would probably be in the coyotes' best interest if someone else told him." Lola said.

We all turned to Bumblebee. The poor 'Bot began to tremble. :Why are you guys looking at me? Why does everyone look at me?:

I patted his leg. "Don't worry Bee; you're the cute one. The odds of you receiving the wrath of Ratchet are much slimmer. I think you got about a fifty-fifty shot. What do you think?" I turned back to Lola.

She nodded. "Yeah, fifty-fifty sounds about right."

Bumblebee shuddered.

* * *

"Can you at least try to act surprised?" Lola begged as she shoved me down the hall towards the main hangar. "Trust me, it's going to be fun."

"It's going to be embarrassing." I groaned, digging my heels in. "Did you tell everyone in the base it was my birthday?"

"Yes."

"Even Optimus?"

"Of course I told Optimus!"

I stared at her in horror. For some reason the thought of Optimus knowing it was my birthday was somewhat mortifying. "Now I really don't want to go."

I tried to turn and run but Lola grabbed the back of my shirt and whipped me around. "Now listen here you stubborn dragon. You are going to go to this party and you are going to have fun, got it?" For a woman a half-foot shorter than me, Lola was intimidating as hell.

I nodded meekly. "Yes Ma'am."

"Good, now march."

And I proceeded to do just that, walking stiff-limbed into the main hangar. My eyes twitched a bit when I saw what they'd done to the place. Streamers wound around the railings, someone had managed to get the balloons down and had tied them to a table where the cake and several wrapped gifts sat, and hung on the wall was…

"A giant…picture of Soundwave?" I stared. Yeah, sure enough there was a large sketch of the Decepticon only where his face was supposed to be was a big question mark.

Miko bounced up to us. "Like it? It's sort of a modified version of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey: pin-the-visor-on-Soundwave."

"Amusing, yet slightly disturbing at the same time." I turned away from the drawing to see all the 'Bots standing around, many grasping small cubes of energon. "I can't believe you guys went along with this."

Ironhide raised his cube. "Gives us an excuse to break out some of the high-grade."

"I hope you get a hell of a hangover." I grumbled.

Lola pushed me towards the table. "Alright, present time."

"Presents?"

"Don't freak, it's just a few." She said, placing a flat box in my hands. "Ok, mine first."

"I think I have an idea what this is." I sighed.

Lola just grinned. I tore of the wrapping paper and opened the slim cardboard box, expecting to find some sort of dress. It wasn't a dress; it was a sleek black leather jacket. I gently removed it from the box. "Wow Lola, this is great." I rubbed my thumbs against the material, noticing the odd silver strands woven into the fabric. "This isn't leather."

"It's a new form of Kevlar." Lola explained. "You're not exactly bullet proof when in Pretender mode, so I figured you could use a bit of extra protection. It's fashionable and functional."

"Where'd you get it?"

"I had some help from Fowler; he got the material from some army surplus place, by the way we need to save him a big piece of cake, then I applied my mad sewing skills and wah-lah! If you rip this, I _will_ kill you."

"I wouldn't dare." I smiled looking the jacket over. I noticed a symbol and the collar. It was the Autobot insignia but on either side of it was a dragon. Both dragons were mirror images; crouched on hind legs, wings half open, forepaws resting on top of the insignia's head, snouts raised to shoot flames. "What's this?"

"Your faction design." Lola puffed up proudly. "Most faction under the Autobot command had their own symbol; the Wreckers had one, the Aerialbots, the Rescuebots, and several others." She looked incredibly pleased that she knew this.

"I'm a faction of one.' I chuckled. "Thanks Lola." I pulled the jacket on, zipping it up. It was surprisingly easy to move around in. "How do I look?"

"Intimidating." Raf said.

"With some ripped jeans and a bit of fake blood you'd make for an awesome rocker." Miko chimed in.

"Puh!" Zig-zag snorted. "You think that's cool? Just wait to see what I made for her."

"Hey." Que mumbled.

"Oh sorry, what _we_ made her." Ziggy gestured between himself and Que. He brought out a small rectangle of a box. "I couldn't have done this without Que. This is totally gonna blow your mind, Val."

"That's what we're afraid of." Ratchet grumbled.

I opened the box tentatively. "It's…an iPod?" I picked up the nondescript iPod touch complete with headphones, staring at it.

Ziggy just smiled. "Press the center button."

I did so. The device began to hum and shake. With a crackle it began to transform and in my hand sat a small pixie-like creature. It was silver and black, though the black would light up in vibrant colors every few seconds; there was a set of dragonfly wings on its back that changed colors as well; the head phones stuck out of its helm like a set of long antennae; bright blue eyes stared back at me.

"What do you think of her?" Que asked.

"Her?" Though now I noticed the slight feminine curves to the little pixie-bot's form.

Zig-zag nodded. "Val, meet Rhapsody. Rhapsody, say hello to Val."

Rhapsody hugged my thumb. "_Hello…hello, hello. I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello—I just came to say hello." _

"I'm afraid she can only talk by using sound clips." Que said.

"She's amazing." I watched as her wings buzzed, letting her hover in front of me. "But what is she for?"

"She's sort of a spy drone. Like Soundwave's Laserbeak only way cuter and not as scary." Ziggy explained, grabbing a balloon and untying it. "She can get into small place that we can't and she can do some minor hacking. I can also transmit signals and viruses through her to infiltrate other systems. And she has an awesome repertoire of songs, including my infamous Playlist of Madness. The very same songs that I infected the _Nemesis_ with."

"I still do not believe that you managed to infiltrate the warship's computer network." Ratchet huffed.

Zig-zag put his mouth to the end of the balloon and inhaled some of the helium. He then turned to Ratchet with a glare. "You doubt my powers?" The words not nearly so threatening when they came out in chipmunk squeak.

"So she's going to help me on my missions?" I wanted to distract Ziggy before he got any ideas of messing with the base's computers just to prove a point.

He nodded. "That and she has another directive."

"Which is?"

"To make a soundtrack of your life."

"Huh?"

"Every little adventure you go on, Rhapsody is going to catalogue it in a song that best fits it. We've already come up with your theme song. Rahpsody, if you please."

The little pixie nodded.

"_I'm trouble_

_Yeah trouble now _

_I'm trouble ya'll _

_I disturb my town." _

I rolled my eyes at the lyrics while everyone chuckled. Rhapsody fluttered to my shoulder and sat down. Perceptor leaned down to look at her. "I must admit, this is quite a feat."

Que smiled. "Thanks she only took a month, several small explosion, a few minor blackouts—"

"And a few scorched eyebrows." Zig-zag added.

"To finish her."

I smiled. "She's wonderful, thank you."

Miko sighed loudly. "Great, now how are we supposed to follow that?"

"You guys got me a gift too?" I turned to the kids in surprise.

"Well it's really Jack's since it was his idea." Raf said. "But Miko and I helped. So did Ratchet and Perceptor."

"Ratch I didn't know you cared."

The medic snorted and rolled his optics. "I just made sure the programming was correct."

"Programming? What exactly are you giving me?"

Jack rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well it's not something I can physically give you. It's sort of an encyclopedia?"

"Encyclopedia?"

"Of monsters!" Miko chimed in.

"I figured it would help if you didn't have to go to Ella Longwing all the time to figure out what you were up against. So I contacted her and asked if she could give me all the information about monster that they had." Jack explained. "It was quite a lot. Miko and I sifted through the data, Raf and Perceptor transferred the information into coding, and Ratchet is going to install the data-packet into your processors, that is if you want it."

I stared at him. "Are you kidding? Of course I want it! I can't believe you did this." I stood and hugged him. "Thank you, this info will probably save my butt quite a few times." I couldn't believe it, all the information I would need would be right there with me. I hugged Miko and Raf in turn. "This is amazing."

I heard Zig-zag mutter to Lola. "I think we just got upstaged by a data-packet."

"Alright, are we done with this whole gift giving thing?" Ironhide huffed, eyeing the Soundwave. "I'm thinking that picture would have much better use for target practice."

"Ooh, I did make a set of giant darts." Que chimed in.

"Now you're talking."

* * *

I hummed quietly as I sat in bi-pedal mode on the edge of a berth in the medbay. It was later in the evening that I came here to get the "Monster Encyclopedia" uploaded into my processor. Ratchet was busy hooking cables to the back of my helm while Rhapsody entertained herself by sliding down my tail.

"Since your processor does not have a wireless uplink, I'm going to have to manually install the data packet." Ratchet informed me. "You may feel some dizziness, and a slight processor ache, but other than that you'll be fine."

I nodded. "Got it."

Just then the doors to the medbay opened and in walked Optimus. The Prime had been rather quiet during the party, not indulging in any high-grade; instead giving his share to Ironhide. The Weapons Specialist's buzz had not affected his aim as he managed to throw the darts in several painful looking places on the Soundwave sketch.

I raised a hand in greeting. "Hey Optimus."

"Hello Val, did you enjoy the celebration?"

"I did, actually. And I don't usually like birthday parties."

Optimus smiled softly. "I am glad. It was a nice reprieve for all of us."

"I'm uh sorry that you got dragged into it." I said.

"Why? I enjoyed myself quite a bit."

I looked up at him. "Really? I didn't think parties were your thing." I remembered Arcee telling me during the gathering that Primes didn't party. "I mean, all birthdays are is a recognition that you managed to go another year without dying. Technically I can't even say that about me since I did die."

"Still, such celebrations provide a little light in these dark times." Optimus rumbled. "They are few and far between and we should be grateful for them."

I smiled. "I am. And I guess if my other birthdays are going to be like this one then I might warm up to the idea."

"I'm starting the upload. You may feel a bit of a jolt." Ratchet warned me.

I gasped as the information entered my processor. Words and images flashed past my optics. Kappas, brownies, sea serpents, rocs, and many more; all the facts and theories about such creatures siphoned into my processor, filing into a data holding area. Overwhelmed by the amount I lost balance and pitched forward. A set of arms caught me before I hit the ground. The information stream soon slowed then stopped. Silently, I filtered through the data, smiling at all the information available. I realized Optimus was still half holding me. I looked up at him with a sheepish grin. "Heh, thanks."

He stared at me, reaching up and running a thumb against my cheekplate. "It was no trouble." Quick as a flash he leaned down and gently kissed my cheek. "Happy birthday, Valiant."

I think my jaw might've hit the floor.

There was a loud throat clearing sound. We turned to see Ratchet looking at us with an amused expression on his faceplates. Optimus jolted as he realized what he'd just done and where he was. Quickly he set me on my feet and backed away. "Well…I…shall just take my leave now. Ratchet, Val, goodnight."

Ratchet just rolled his optics as Optimus all but fled the medbay.

I raised a hand to touch the cheek, staring at the door he'd left from. One small kiss and suddenly I was acting like a lovesick school girl. How sad was that?

Ah hell, I don't care. _That_ was the best birthday gift I'd gotten.

"_If you wanna know _

_If he loves you so _

_It's in his kiss! _

_(That's where it is!) _

_Yeah! It's in his kiss!" _

I turned to see Rhapsody buzzing by my shoulder. "You know, I think Zig-zag installed as smartass program in you."

**And that's it for this chapter (added a little OptimusxVal fluff there at the end). Next chapter will be another supernatural case. So I have a question for my dear readers (I'd put this in a poll except I don't know how to work one :/). The trip to New England; I am planning on writing about it but I'm not sure whether I should make it a short side story (it'll probably be about five or six chapters long) or try to fit it into the Valiant Spark storyline. The trip is going to include some definite ghosts and ghouls (New England is one of the more haunted parts of the U.S.). I've already have some places in mind (including a certain island by the name of Griffin Rock…TF: Rescue bots!), but if you have a spooky destination in mind then just let me know and I might add it in. Alright I think that's it. **

**Songs used. **

**It's in his kiss by Aretha Franklin **

**Trouble by P!nk (I actually do think of this as Val's theme song, it helped inspire me to right her character) **

**Hello by Dragonette **

**Hello goodbye by the Beatles **

**Goodbye until the next chapter! **


	9. Union of the Snake pt 1

***Clears throat awkwardly* **

** Uh, Hi everybody. Um, I'm sure you're all expecting some great excuse for the lack of updates (stranded on a deserted island with no internet and had to build and airplane out of coconut shells and monkey poop, caught some rare disease which they named after me, had to fight off a race of cannibalistic goldfish, got sucked into an inter-dimensional plane in which everything was sung to the tune of "It's a Small World", etc.) but sadly I only have one word to say: college. It's just been a wee bit crazy adjusting to college life and all the lovely homework that goes with it *insert eye twitch here*. So I haven't the foggiest idea when I will update next, but I shall do my best. I plan on seeing this story through to the end, even if it takes a long, long, LONG time *again, the eye twitch*. **

** So without further ado, here's chapter 9. **

** I don't own Transformers. **

** P.S. The views of the protagonist on snakes belong solely to the protagonist and do not reflect the views of the author. (Snakes are cool.) **

"No no, the X button is attack. Hit the X, the X!"

"I'm hitting the damn X!"

"You gotta get the green orbs; they'll heal you. Hurry up!"

"Well those stupid shadow thingies are in my way!"

"That's why you hit X!"

"I'M HITTING X!"

I sighed and glanced up from where I was trying to nap on a couch. "Do you two think you could keep the noise down a bit? I've got a second patrol shift in an hour and I really would like to catch a few winks before then."

Lola swore as her character fell to the ground, signaling that she had lost.

Zig-zag shook his head. "I told you to hit X—ow!" he rubbed the side of his head where Lola had chucked the game controller.

"This game is stupid." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"That's because you weren't even able to make it past the first level." Ziggy said, ducking his head when Lola shot him a glare.

I groaned and rubbed my eyes. "You two have all the maturity of five year olds on Redbull."

"At least I don't play like a five year old." Ziggy grumbled.

Lola raised her fist threateningly. "Keep it up and you're gonna need a whole lot more than green orbs to heal you."

"Screw this," I sat up. "I'll just see if I can start my shift early."

"Sure you don't want to play a round?" Ziggy asked. He clicked the controller to start a new game when the TV screen went to static. "What the hell?" He walked over to the television and peered behind it. "None of the wires are loose."

Just then the static cut out to reveal the scowling face of Double-A, the mechanic for Ella Longwing's encampment of _Spiritus_.

Ziggy yelped and fell back. "Help! There's an annoying Irishman in the flat screen!"

Double-A's glower darkened. "Keep that up albino and it's my boot up your arse."

"Hmm, I don't like this channel, I think I'll change it." Zig-zag reached for the remote.

"Boy, you're just begging for a brick upside the head." The mechanic growled.

I snatched the remote away. "Ziggy knock it off." I turned to the TV. "And what do you need, Double-A?"

"I think the more appropriate question would be how did he get into the TV." Lola pointed out.

"I'm going to have several complaints to give to our cable provider." Ziggy grumbled.

Double-A just rolled his eyes. Officially, his name was Alan Allen, but anyone who valued their life would call him Double-A. His steel grey and electric green eyes marked him as a _Spiritus_, and, from what I knew, he'd been with Ella's group for several years. He was a brilliant mechanic, and with his large muscular stature and long black hair, he was good looking to boot. Except for the grouchy scowl and matching attitude that he carried with him constantly. More than once I thought he'd get along quite well with Ratchet; the old medic would have someone to throw wrenches with.

"Got a new mission for you." Double-A huffed.

I frowned slightly. "Usually Ella sends me my missions. Is something wrong?"

"Nah, she's just really busy. So I got stuck with the job of contacting you and the walking, talking toothpick."

"Hey!" Zig-zag yelled indignantly. "I've got muscles!"

Double-A squinted. "Yep, I think there's one on you left arm—oh wait, it's just a blemish."

Ziggy looked ready to throw something at the TV.

"So how are you in the television?" I asked, hoping to distract them.

"Well it's not me per say. I'm using one of my spirits to broadcast onto your TV." Double-A explained. "You know how Ella uses her fox? Well this is how I communicate with my spirit, it helps that it's Vulcan."

Zig-zag roared with laughter. "A Vulcan? You got the ghost of a fake alien?"

If looks could kill, the mechanic would have been charged with murder. "The Roman god Vulcan, you nit. The god of fire, the forge, and inventing."

Lola tapped her chin in thought. "This reminds me of something I read."

"But how were you able to hack into the base's signal?" I asked. "The security in here is unreal; it took Zig-zag weeks to get a secure connection for cable."

Double-A snorted. "That's because I'm not using any tech to talk to you. There isn't a technology invented that can block a spirit. Ella's fox can get into your base without a problem, so can Vulcan. The television is just how I communicate through him."

"But how can he and the fox find me so easily?"

"Same as any spirit would find you. Our kind give off a signal that draws them in, though it's a bit easier to send ours to find you since we know you." The mechanic scratched his jaw in thought. "Although, it does seem a bit too easy for the spooks to locate you."

I shrugged. "It's probably a side-effect of being a dragon."

He nodded. "And a descendant of the Firsts. Still, it wouldn't be smart to walk around without some way of covering your presence; not all the ghoulies that come calling will be friendly and the _Spiritus_ that send them might be even less so. After all, even the Firsts had their share of enemies."

"How do I conceal my presence?" I asked.

"Ella will have to teach you that; I don't have the patience for it." Double-A grumbled. "But believe me, you're gonna want to learn soon. Word has been getting around about you, not the whole dragon thing but that you're the descendant that survived the prophecy. There's gonna be a few old families that'll be gunning for your blood. You don't want them to find where you live."

I nodded. "And where the Autobots live too."

"RICK RIORDAN!" Lola shouted, making all of us jump.

Double-A swore. "What the bloody hell are you going on about woman?"

"He writes books about the Greek gods and stuff in modern day and in one of the books he had Hephaestus, the Greek version of Vulcan, talking through a TV like you're doing now. He—"

"Wait, you actually read?" Ziggy interrupted.

I winced when he yelped in pain. "So back on subject; what's this mission?" I asked once Lola had finished pummeling Zig-zag.

"You're heading out to a cave system in western Texas." Double-A informed me.

"Cool, let me pack my cowboy hat." Ziggy said.

"Oh no you don't, Twiggy." The mechanic shook his head. "As much as I'd enjoy watching you run screaming from a monster, this is too serious. Hell, there have already been seven deaths, two of them were _Spiritus_."

I frowned, this was serious. "Just what are you sending me up against?"

Double-A sighed tiredly. "A basilisk."

I stiffened, an ice cold chill sliding down my spine. Dread filled me as my processor flipped through all the information available. My spark sank at the findings: big-ass snake. The information was sketchy at best, since few had encountered such a creature and lived to chat about it. No wonder; it was a _snake_.

"You do know what a basilisk is, don't you?" Double-A asked after several minutes had gone by and I hadn't responded.

Zig-zag snorted. "Duh, we've all read and seen _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_. It's a big fat snake with death vision." He cast a worried glance at me then glared back at Double-A. "How do you even know what it is?"

"We sent out spirit scouts when we started picking up rumors."

"Then why can't you just send spirits down there to kill it?" Lola asked, rubbing my shoulder.

The Irishman shook his head. "They can't do it. Not much can kill a basilisk. One of the few things that can is dragon-fire. Which is why only Val can do this. Why? What's the problem?"

Might as well tell him.

"I'm afraid of snakes." My voice came out in an undignified squeak.

Double-A stared at me then started to laugh, loud guffaws echoing through the speakers. "Are you serious? You turn into a giant dragon and you're afraid of snakes?" The mechanic nearly doubled over from laughter.

Zig-zag scowled. "Ok, time to turn off the TV." He grabbed the remote and switched it off before Double-A could protest. "Are you ok Val?"

I held up a hand. "Just give me a moment."

Despite the beliefs of many, I was not some fearless hero. I had my own list of terrors, and right at the top of it was Ophidiophobia: the fear of snakes. I'd had it most of my life; ever since I was four years old and had been bitten by a garter snake when I had been playing outside. I ran my fingers across the faint scar between my thumb and forefinger on my left hand. The mark had stayed with me throughout my human life, even when I had changed, and with it also came my fear of snakes. Double-A was right, it did seem ridiculous that I should be afraid of snakes now, but I couldn't shake off the feeling that I'd grown up with.

"You don't have to go." Lola said softly, jolting me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head. "No. I…" I swallowed, trying to stop my voice from quivering. "I have to go; I'm the only one that can. It's my responsibility."

"Yeah but you're terrified of snakes." Zig-zag said. "And you're going up against the biggest snake of them all. _And_ it can kill with a single look."

"You're not helping, Ziggy." Lola growled.

I stood. "I'm doing this." I said, more to myself than to them. I started walking out of the barracks.

"Where are you going?" Ziggy called.

"To let Optimus know where I'm going. I want to leave before I come to my senses and lock myself in my quarters."

* * *

Knock Out sighed irritably, flicking miniscule bits of dirt off his precious paint job. He checked his reflection in the glossy finish of his forearm. It was perfect of course. Despite his reservations about this filthy organic planet, the spinning mud ball did have a few redeeming qualities. One being the many street races held by its inhabitants, the other was the minerals found that created Knock Out's impeccable finish. The doctor had taken months of experimenting with the raw materials to create a chemical composition that buffed his paint job to absolute flawlessness. The stuff was better than anything he'd ever had on Cybertron, and the vain 'Con guarded his recipe jealously. Who wouldn't? After all the finish did to his paintjob, making it so lustrous that he looked like a walking talking mirror, Knock Out would have been a fool not to keep a jar of it in his subspace at all times. He even went so far as to make sure Breakdown carried a jar or two of the stuff, in case the good doctor ran out of it.

Speaking of Breakdown…

The large mono-optic 'Con tramped toward Knock Out. "I don't get it; nothing in this place looks bigger than anywhere else we've been."

"What are you going on about?" Knock Out asked.

"The human saying: everything's bigger in Texas, I'm not sure that's right. Nothing looks bigger."

The medic stared at his companion. "And why are you looking up human phrases?"

Breakdown shrugged. "I was bored. Scouting for energon isn't exactly the most exciting thing to be doing."

Knock out agreed heartily with him. Not that being back on the _Nemesis_ was any better. With no illegal races to participate in, and being stuck doing minor repairs for insignificant Vehicons, the medic had felt like he would offline from boredom. Unfortunately Soundwave had overheard him when he'd complained to Breakdown about it and before the red 'Con knew it, he and Breakdown had been stuck on scouting duty. This was most definitely a step down; at least on the _Nemesis_ he was bored but _clean_.

Knock Out brushed away another fleck of dirt. Why did this area have to be so dusty? "Well let's get this over with, the sooner we find something the sooner we can get back to the nice temperature controlled ship." He glared up at the noonday sun; he didn't even want to think about what the heat would do to his paintjob. He stomped to the entrance to the cave and peered down the giant shaft. "Anything?"

The lone Vehicon scout that had been sent down called back. "There are two tunnels that branch off, Sir. So far no readings of energon. If there is any, it'll be further in."

Knock Out huffed and turned to Breakdown. "Must we really go down there?"

The blue and grey 'Con gave him a sympathetic smile. "You know Megatron will have our helms if we don't do a thorough search."

"I was really hoping for a different answer." The medic's shoulders sagged. "So two tunnels…divide and conquer?"

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"Ok. Ok. I can do this. I can do this." I started walking toward the cave then promptly turned on my pede and walked away, tail flicking anxiously. "Nope, I can't do this. I can't do this."

In a flash, Rhapsody was hovering in front of my optics, little hands on hips and a frown on her face, accordion music blaring from her speakers. I recognized the tune; the Chicken Dance song.

I narrowed my optics. "And just what are you implying?"

She crossed her arms and glared at me.

I was getting scolded by a little pixie-pod; this was a new low for me. My wings drooped, "Rhapsody, I really,_ really_ am afraid of snakes. This isn't some joke. I don't know if I can handle being down there with that thing."

_"You're at your best when the going gets rough _

_ You've been put to the test but it's never enough _

_ You got the touch _

_ You got the power." _

I scratched my helm. "What eighties movie did you get that one from?" I sighed then straighten up. "Alright, I'm going."

Rhapsody applauded.

I rolled my optics. "Yeah sure go ahead and clap, _you're_ not the one going down there."

The little 'bot just shrugged, gave me a thumbs up, and flew off to sit on a branch of a nearby tree.

I huffed then turned towards the cave, walking stiff-limbed to the entrance. The opening was a good twenty-five feet high, it was relatively flat for the first few feet then sloped downward at about a forty-five degree angle into the dark. I allowed myself a quick shiver then walked inside, leaving the warm, Texas afternoon behind. There was almost an instant drop in temperature by a good ten degrees. The ground shifted from the soft, dusty dirt to a slick rocky floor. I cautiously made my way inward, the light from the outside growing dimmer the further I entered the cavern. I had to open my wings partially to help keep my balance; the incline got steeper and steeper, almost to the point where I was practically freefalling. By the time my pedes reached a stable surface, my surroundings were pitch-black.

A dragon's eyes may be sharp, but they're useless in the complete darkness. Thankfully my other senses were more than capable of making up for the loss of sight, but I'd never had to depend on them quite this much. Shutting my optics, I took a moment to adjust. My floppy audio-horns twitched slightly, picking up the distant sound of dripping water. Sniffing, I caught the scent of mildew and bat poop. I rested a clawed servo against the rock wall, feeling a slight thrum from the stone. There was some comfort to be felt from it; the fact that I could control the rock, though results did vary, gave me a small sense of security. There were more echoes now, the faint sound of running water and the distant flutter of batwings. I tilted my helm to the side, trying to catch as many sounds as possible. Slowly a mental map formed in my processor; I was in a tunnel, either end branched off into more tunnels. I had no idea how far or deep the passage ways went.

Now all I had to choose was right or left.

I flicked my optics back open; as useless as it was I still felt more comfortable with them open. After a quick round of eeny-meeny-miney-mo, I headed off to the right. My horns twitched at the slightest sound, straining to pick up any soft hissing or the sound of scales slithering across the cavern floor. But only the noise of water and bats greeted me.

I had walked a few feet when I froze. How would I find my way back? The cave system was probably massive and if I couldn't see five feet in front of me, how was I going to find my way back? Spelunkers used rope but I had none.

I smacked myself on the helm when I thought that. I may not have rope, but I had something just as good.

"Anansi." I whispered, my voice echoing in the dark.

I touched my hip as the marking grew warm; the tattoo now had raised edges. When I drew my hand away, a soft but tough thread came with it. I felt my way back to the sloping entrance, found a rock near it and tied the spider silk around the stone. I walked a few feet away, the silk rope lengthening with every step. I smiled a spider-spelunker guide rope. Finally, I began my trek down the tunnel, keeping one servo on my hip to make sure the webbing still worked and the other servo on the wall of the tunnel. Every few yards I'd stop, feel for a rock, and tie off a length of silk to help act as a marker.

Several minutes and several hundred yards later, I noticed the sound of running water increase to a soft, rushing roar. The stone beneath my servo became slick, small rivulets of moisture running over my claws. For a moment I thought my optics were malfunctioning, they were picking up a soft glow in the distance. But as I reached the end of the tunnel I realized what the source of the faint light was: the river. Before me was a glowing river, only a few feet deep and a yard or two wide. The water lit up the passage in a dim greenish-white glow. I knelt and peered into the stream. Small, pale, eyeless fish darted among the rocks, nibbling on the algae that grew on the rocks. I dipped a claw into the water and pulled it back out; nothing happened so it was safe to assume whatever it was that was causing the aquatic light show wasn't harmful to metal. With that knowledge I stepped carefully into the current.

"Sorry fishies." I whispered as I watched the little creatures dart away from my pedes. I traveled downstream, carefully not to slip on the slick rocks. Other tunnels branched off from the river, most were too small for me to enter but there were a few big enough. I took to picking up stone and throwing them into the tunnels, listening to the echo to see how deep they went. A few seemed promising but I kept to the river, reluctant to leave my only light source. Around the thirteenth tunnel I noticed an odd sound when I'd tossed the stone.

_Clank _

I frowned, picked up another rock and threw it down the same passageway.

_Clank _

There it was again, it sounded like stone hitting metal. Intrigued, I entered the tunnel. I didn't have to go far to discover the cause of the sound.

A Vehicon lay dead in the middle of the tunnel. By the dim light of the river I saw his prone corpse, optics unseeing, metal now a faded grey. I knelt down to examine the body but could find no visible cause of death. The lack of physical wounds meant one thing.

The basilisk had gotten him. It had been through here. How long ago I wasn't sure, having no way of determining how long the 'Con had been deceased. At least this answered the question I'd been pondering: whether or not a basilisk's glare would work on a Cybertronian.

Guess it could.

What the heck was a lone Vehicon doing down here anyway?

Sighing I left the body behind and headed down the tunnel. If the corpse was any indication, I was headed in the right direction. I just hope I wouldn't be following a trail of bodies. Darkness again surrounded me as I left the river far behind. I continued walking, keeping a hand on the wall and tying off the silk rope every few yards. I'd been traversing the tunnel for almost an hour when I'd practically tripped over the second body. I knelt and reached out to trace my servos over the body, claws acting as eyes in the dark. It was another Vehicon, his body in the same condition as the first: no wounds that I could feel but still as dead as a dodo bird.

As I stood, I heard the soft clatter of falling pebbles to my right. I froze, audio-horns trying to track the sound. There was the faint creak of metal, and it certainly wasn't coming from the Vehicon. Before I could spring into action, bright light filled my vision, momentarily blinding me.

"Gotcha Autofreak!" a hard voice snarled.

Something hit me in the lower abdomen, causing me to double over. When my optics finally adjusted I caught sight of a dark blue and grey 'Con standing before me. One optic a bright yellow, the other seemed to be covered in a metal patch. One servo gripped a large flashlight, while the other had turned into a hammer.

Looking at him, several pirate jokes came to mind, but I decided it would be better to keep my mouth shut and focus on dodging this guy's attacks.

He swung at me again though this time I was prepared. I rolled out of the way and sprung back on my pedes, taking a fighting stance. We began to circle each other.

"You're the 'Con that's got some beef with Bulkhead aren't you?" I asked. "Breakdown right?"

The one-eyed Decepticon just scowled at me, continuing to circle.

"Mind if I ask what you're doing down here? This place isn't exactly the most charming locale."

"You know what the frag we're doing; you've been following us this entire time, picking off my scouts one by one. What about Knock Out's group, huh? Did you already finish with them or are they next?" He growled.

I frowned. "I haven't been following you." I glanced at the ground and noticed the trail of spider-silk had formed several loops as we'd circled each other. A scheme formed; now if only I could get Breakdown in the center. "I have no idea what happened to the others of you group." I said offhandedly. "But they're probably pushing up lug nuts by now."

Breakdown roared and charged straight at me, crossing into the circle. I grabbed hold of the silk rope and yanked, the thin but sturdy lines tightening around the 'Con's legs, sending him sprawling. With a little extra help from Anansi, I had him completely bound in a matter of seconds.

Breakdown struggled and cursed. "Frag this, not _again_."

He was completely defenseless, easy pickings. But the thought of killing him in this dark, dank cavern made me feel ill. I could just leave him, but that idea didn't make me feel any better, the basilisk would surely find him. As I watched him writhe in the webbing, an idea began to take shape, it may not have been the smartest thing to do, and I was probably going to regret trying to save his aft, but it was the best I had under the circumstances.

I picked up the fallen flashlight and shined it into his optic. "Ok now listen, 'Con, and listen well 'cause this might be you're only chance to get out of this alive."

**Songs used. **

** The Touch by Stan Bush : ^.^ **

** Oh, and in referencing the chapter title: Union of the Snake is one of my favorite songs by Duran Duran (actually most of their songs are my favorite) and I happened to be listening to it when I was finishing this chapter up so I just decided to throw it in.**

**And that's where I'm gonna end it. This'll be a two part (maybe three part) story. I know I also promised a little story about involving the rescue bots and I'll try to get that up ASAP, but like a said, Collge : / I was also sent a beast wars challenge which I'll try to do when I find the time : ( . At worst, the latest I'll update will be over winter break. **

** Thanks so much for sticking with the story, everyone. I really appreciate it. **

** Lots of love, **

** Wolfwitch **


	10. Union of the Snake pt 2

**Hello dearest readers! I'm back (for about a month at least)! **

** It's been awhile hasn't it? Sorry about that but to make up for it I'll be writing as much as I can during my winter break. Also, the first chapter to A Darby Family Vacation (that short side story I promised you guys oh so long ago) should be up in a day or two. I've decided to make this two part story arc a three part because I'm a bit rusty and need to get back into the swing of things (sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than some of the others). Also sorry if Breakdown and Knock Out are a bit ooc, like I said: bit rusty. All my available plot bunnies have been busy writing about the black plague in the middle ages (one word: scary) and studying for finals (that's like the plague for plot bunnies). Oh, and sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes (you know, I think I qualify to have a beta reader but I have no idea how to get one, by the way, what is a beta reader? In my mind I'm kinda picturing a beta fish wearing reading glasses o.0).But anywho, I'm just glad to be back. So without further ado, here's Val.**

**I don't own Transformers.**

"So you're telling me there's a giant organic creature called a snake creeping around these caverns?"

"Yep."

"And it's this creature that's been picking off my scouts?"

"Yep."

"And not only is this snake thing bigger than the average Cybertronian but it also can kill with a single look from its optics?"

"Eyes."

"Whatever. And I'm supposed to believe that you'll help me find the rest of the group and get out of this rock maze all out of the kindness of your spark?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Breakdown stared dully up at me from where he was still bound by webbing. "You know, I may not be the smoothest rotary buffer in the tool kit, but even I know when I'm being had."

I groaned, wings slumping. "Seriously? We've been over this for the past ten minutes and you still can't get it through your thick helm that I'm telling the truth? Is extreme stubbornness a skill requirement for joining the Decepticons? Look at your fallen troops: no blaster marks or stab wounds, no physical marks at all, and you still think I did them in? What, I just snuck up behind them, whispered ʻbooʼ into their audios and they just keeled over? As cool as that would be, no, I did not do that; that ain't exactly my style. So you'd better shut up and let me help you, or I swear I will slap you so hard you'll lose the other optic! And then you won't have to worry about seeing the basilisk because you'll be blind, and you'll have to get around using a giant metal cane because I doubt they have robot seeing-eye dogs!" By then I'd gone into a full blown rant, waving Breakdown's flashlight through the air in jerky movements. I probably should have tried a little harder to keep calm but I was getting just a bit twitching the more I spent down here; I swore the walls of the cavern were moving closer. I pressed my free servo against my helm and sighed deeply, trying to reign in my jittery nerves.

"Yeah…I still don't believe you." Breakdown deadpanned.

"Oh, for the love of—" I froze at the sound of clattering stones. Audio horns twitching, I crouched down, one servo pointing the flashlight down the tunnel.

Another clatter.

Breakdown heard the noise as well. "What was—mmmpf!" I slapped a servo over his mouth.

"Shh!"

New sounds echoed down the tunnel, soft sounds like scales over rock. The stench of fetid meat wafted past me, making me want to gag. I noticed the light begin to quiver and realized my servo that held it was shaking. I forced myself to be still, locking my body into a fighting stance, one servo still clamped over Breakdown's mouth. In my mind I repeated the mantra: _It's just a snake, it's just a snake_.

I almost believed myself until I heard that hiss, like a cross between a rattling of bones and the screech of an angry vulture, echo down the tunnel.

"Screw it!" I yelped. There was no way in hell I could face that thing. I sprung up to flee but stopped short: Breakdown. Even the fact that he was a Decepticon and ergo my enemy, I couldn't leave the lug to that thing. Cursing under my breath, I leaned down and slashed the spider silk. Grabbing his shoulder I hauled him up and started to drag him down the tunnel away from the hissing.

"You just realize that you let—"

I tugged him harder. "Yeah, yeah, I'll find time to regret it later, but now just _move_."

I led the way through the winding maze of tunnels, the flashlight barely lighting the few feet in front of us. The spider silk line had long been torn up, leaving me with no way to find the route back. Not that it mattered, all I cared about right then was getting as far away from that hissing as possible. I slid to a halt when the tunnel branched out in three different directions.

"Well if it makes you feel better, I'm starting to believe you." Breakdown huffed. "Did we lose it?"

I took a moment to focus and listen, the hissing was distant but still there and coming closer.

"Nope."

"Frag."

"I concur with that statement."

"And why can't I just blast the thing?"

I shook my helm. "Won't work, not much can kill that thing."

"And how do you know that a good set of big blasters won't do the job?"

"You want to find out?" I gestured to the tunnel we'd just come from. "Be my guest."

Breakdown grimaced. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think my chances are better here."

"Then pipe down and just give me a minute to think." I snapped and started to pace. "Ok, ok, so the basilisk obviously knew where your group was, probably was following you. But I've been here for hours and didn't run into anything. Why just now? What's the difference?"

Breakdown just shrugged.

I tapped the flashlight against my leg, making the light bounce on the walls. I froze and looked down at the device in my hands. No, it couldn't have been that. Could it?

I spun and shown the light at Breakdown.

"Hey!"

"Did the Vehicons have light of their own as well?" I asked.

"What?"

"Did they?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You had your light turned off when I showed up, why?" I asked.

The 'Con stared at me like he wasn't quite sure what to make of me. "I had a feeling that I was being followed so I tried to lay an ambush."

"But when you turned off the light, nothing happened right? You didn't encounter anything?"

"Not until you came along." He said.

"And I had no light." I stared at the flashlight for another minute then nodded. "Alright pick a tunnel."

"Uh, the left one."

"Alrighty then." I flicked off the light, plunging us into the darkness.

"What the frag are you doing?!" Breakdown demanded. "I can't see slag!"

"Neither can I, so stop complaining and let's go." I stuck my claws out until I found his servo and started to pull him in the direction of the tunnel.

"Ugh, thank Primus no one else is here to see me holding onto an Autobot."

I rolled my optics as I felt along the wall. "Oh boohoo you big baby, it's not like I have cooties. I promise once we get out of this alive we can go back to trying to kill each other."

"So, care to explain why we're wandering around in the complete dark?" the 'Con grumbled.

"Because if we can't see us then I'm pretty sure the basilisk can't see us either." I said. "I'm not sure how, but I think it's attracted to artificial light."

"What about optic light?"

I shrugged though the motion was lost in the dark. "I'm guessing it's too small of a source for it to detect. Honestly, how it's able to sense the single beam from your flashlight through this maze is beyond me."

"Huh" was all Breakdown said. A silence fell between us then, kind of awkward but also kind of nice, nice because I could no longer hear the hissing, awkward because, well, I was walking along with a Decepticon, _and_ I was holding his servo. I was sure I'd get an audio full from Bulkhead if he ever found out about this.

And yet, even though he was a Decepticon, I could find no reason to hate Breakdown, well, other than the fact that he was a Decepticon. In all honesty this was the first time I'd really spent any amount of time around a 'Con. Most of my encounters dealt with the Vehicon drones and of course the brief fight with Megatron. And he wasn't exactly going to give the 'Cons a stunning reputation. Based on what I'd seen of their leader, I'd put all the Decepticons in a harsh light, simplifying them to be just the ʻbad guysʼ and never once thinking of each individual. I wondered if all wars did that: made everyone blind to what their enemy was truly like. Right now, Breakdown wasn't some opponent across a battlefield waiting for me to mess up so he could end me. He was a fellow being, scared of what lurked in these caves and worried for his companions.

Thinking of that made me remember my encounter with Starscream and his trine. Sure Starscream had been annoying as hell, the very poster child for Decepticon lunacy, but Thundercracker, and heck even Skywarp, couldn't be written off just villains. I'd spoken with Thundercracker, gotten a glimpse into what he was like, and in all honesty, I respected him for it. The seeker was levelheaded and practical, but also caring to his friends. And even Skywarp…well the most positive way I could look at Skywarp was that he was like a dumbed down version Zig-zag on Redbull…lots and lots of Redbull. So could I ever find it in myself to destroy either of them? No I didn't think so.

So what was I supposed to do? Just ignore their faces, their traits, their personalities all for the sake of winning a war? Was that really the way to bring peace? Was that the way I wanted to bring peace? No. I may have been new to this war, and maybe it was because of that that I could see things differently, but I didn't want that. But I couldn't just stop fighting and start chanting ʻMake love not war.ʼ I needed to fight, to defend my family and home.

Suddenly something clicked and a little bit of understanding leaked through. There was someone else who faced this same dilemma, who didn't just see the opponent across the battlefield as simply the ʻbad buy.ʼ Now I could understand why Optimus optics always had that hint of sadness echoing in them, why he seemed a bit more weighed down after each battle, why he attempted to sway Dreadwing into joining our ranks the same way he no doubt tried to get other Decepticons to stop the fighting. But I doubted that a complete switch to a different side could be possible anymore, not after all the two factions have been through. There had to be a middle ground. And that's what I would strive for, that middle ground, even though I wasn't quite sure what it was yet. And the first thing I was going to do to get there was to get Breakdown out of this cave.

Huh, I believe I just had an epiphany…several hundred feet underground, in the middle of a giant cave, while being chased by a monstrous snake.

Well weirder things have happened to me.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Breakdown spoke up.

"So how much longer do we have to walk?"

"No idea." Yeah, so far I was kind of bombing this whole "get Breakdown out of the cave of horrors alive" plan. "I guess, until we find the exit, or the rest of your group, or the basilisk finds us, or until the ground falls out from under our pedes."

Sometimes I really needed to just not open my mouth.

No sooner had I spoken those words when my pedes met open air instead of solid rock. Dropping both the flashlight and Breakdown's servo, I plunged into, well, more darkness. My claws scrabbled against the rock, trying to stop my fall. The sound of a bigger body falling, and the loud yelp that followed it, made me realize that Breakdown was falling with me. Great, that was just peachy. Finally, my claws managed to dig into the stone, sending me to a screeching halt. Breakdown also managed to stop his fall.

How did I know this?

Because the thing he grabbed to stop his fall was my tail.

My poor, poor tail.

"Holy halibut! How much do they feed you 'Cons?" I gasped as I clung to the wall, pain racing up from the nerve sensors in my tail. "Man, you could definitely afford to lose a ton or two. Do they have Slimfast for Cybertronians?"

"Go ahead, laugh it up." Breakdown grouched from where he swung.

"Who's laughing? I'm too busy trying not to scream in pain." I grimaced and dug my claws further into the rock. "Ok, you have to let go."

He snorted, "Like that's gonna happen. I have no idea how far down this thing goes, and I have no way of knowing since _someone_ dropped the flashlight." He paused for a moment. "Hey what is your name by the way?"

"Valiant." I said through gritted teeth. "But just call me Val."

"Valiant? You weren't so valiant when you were running from that sn—"

"Finish that sentence and I will cut off my tail just to hear you plunge to your death." I growled. Silence followed for a moment until a thought struck. "Hold on a sec, you turn into a car, right?"

"Uh no, not a car." Breakdown huffed indignantly. "I'm a—"

"I don't care if you transform into the Mystery Machine." I snapped. "You turn into a vehicle with headlights right?"

"Yeah." He said slowly, still not catching on.

"Then turn them on! You can do that in this form can't you?"

Breakdown was quiet for a moment. "You know I never thought of that before."

"Better late than never." I deadpanned.

"What about that snake thing?"

"I don't know, just turn on the lights and look down real quick then turn them off."

I heard him sigh then a second later lights flashed, I shut my optics so as not to be blinded. A moment later I heard Breakdown laugh.

"Oh Primus, you're gonna hate me for this."

"My tail already hates you. What is it?"

"We're only about fifteen feet from the bottom." He chuckled.

I wanted to bang my helm against the rocks. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope." The pressure on my tail disappeared as he let go and not a second later I heard him touch ground. "So much for you listening to me fall to my death."

"I can still dream." I grumbled then let go, falling to the ground in a crouch to better brace myself. I winced as my tail brushed the ground. "I think you stretched it out a foot."

"Ah stop complaining, we're alive aren't we?"

Ok, it may have been part of my new resolution to help Breakdown, but that didn't mean I couldn't beat him up a bit while doing so. But before I could avenge my darling tail, hissing echoed through the cavern shaft.

"Ah crap. How the heck does it do that?" I moaned. I looked over and saw that Breakdown still had his lights on. "Hey, kill the high-beams!"

"I would but I'm trying to find an exit."

"And?"

"There isn't one."

I spun around the shaft and saw he was right. There wasn't even a crack big enough for me to get through in human form. My panic level decided to shoot up another notch.

"Ok, ok, so there's no exit. That's ok, that's fine because," I looked down at my claws then back up at the wall. "I'll just make my own. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Yeah."

"I think you're starting to lose it."

"Just shut up and turn off the lights." I snapped, shutting my optics as I pressed my hands against the stone. I struggled to ignore the hissing that was slowly growing louder. Instead I focused on the rocks, feeling the ever faint life force emanating from them. I sent up a silent prayer to whoever might've been listening that this didn't fail. My talent for shifting stone was not always a constant thing. Slowly, I felt the rocks crumble away revealing small passage just big enough to let us through.

Breakdown stared. "How—"

"Don't bother asking, I can't even explain it myself." I sighed, a bit weary from exertion. "Now turn off the lights and let's go."

We stumbled through the small tunnel, tripping over rocks as we hurried away from the hissing. Well this whole mission was just going spectacularly. I haven't even glimpsed the basilisk and yet I'm fleeing like a rabbit that's smelled a fox nearby. Not only that but I'm in the company of a Decepticon whose partner I'm not even sure is alive but I've still got to find because apparently I'm that much of a pushover. And to top it all off I lost the one means of finding my way out of this cave. Yep, I sure did have a way with missions. Eventually the tunnel led us out into another cavern, and from the echo it seemed pretty big.

"So…you're kind of weird, even by Decepticon standards." Breakdown said once we'd come to a stop.

"Believe me, that was only the tip of the ʻweirdʼ iceberg." I said, tilting my head to the side as I tried to get a better idea of our surroundings from the echoes. I treaded lightly over the rocks, trying to get a scope of the space we were in. the cavern was massive; the nearest tunnel entrance was several hundred yards away. I turned to call back to Breakdown. "Looks like our best bet would be to head out th—WHAT THE HELL?!" Something had my pede.

Something. Had. My. Pede.

And it was _not_ letting go.

I heard Breakdown curse and come stumbling to me. "What's wrong?"

"It's got my pede. Something's got my pede. Oh, jeez what if it's a snake? What if it's a baby basilisk? Oh please Primus, Gaia, and Elvis Presley, please, let it not be a baby basilisk." I squeaked, hopping up and down on one pede as I tried to shake the thing off.

Breakdown was surprisingly calm. "Just relax, ok? I'm going to shine some lights to see what it is and how to get it off, alright?"

"Ok, ok, fine, just hurry." Later, I would probably think it was a bit funny that I was being comforted by a 'Con, but right then all I cared about was getting whatever had my pede as far away from me as possible.

Breakdown flashed his lights, and we saw that it wasn't a snake or any cave critter that had me, it was a slim, white, metal hand attached to a dark red forearm that was sticking out between a gap in a pile of rocks.

"Knock Out!" Breakdown practically shouted. He started shoving away the stones until he uncovered a very dusty, scratched, and annoyed looking mech.

"Well you certainly took your good time getting here." The 'Con snapped in a cultured, though extremely snobbish voice. "One minute everything is fine then the next one of those idiot drones is shoot at something, screaming his helm off. That buffoon caused a partial cave in, trapping me under those rocks for several hours. By the pits, I don't even want to _look_ at my paintjob, it's no doubt horrendous. It's going to take hours to buff all these scratches and dents out and we—" He stopped short, finally noticing me. "And who is that?"

"Your fairy godmother." I snapped.

Knock Out's optics narrowed. "So Breakdown, you've managed to catch an Autobot scout. I would suggest to just finish her off her and now, but if we bring her to Lord Megatron we might be able to get out of energon search duty."

Breakdown rubbed his helm awkwardly. "Actually Knock Out, it's kinda the other way around."

"What?"

"She's been the only thing that's kept me alive so far."

"What are you talking about?" Knock Out demanded.

"He means the big-ass snake that's been chasing us for the past several hours." I said. "The snake that'll come looking for us soon because _someone_ didn't turn off the lights." I shot a pointed look at Breakdown.

"Oh, oops."

"This is beyond ludicrous. Breakdown how can you honestly believe—" Knock Out quieted when he heard that thundering hiss echo from the distant end of the cavern. "What—"

"That, my dear Decepticon, would be the snake." I said. "And we are the rats. So I suggest that these rodents get a move on before we become snake chow."

And for now that was all we could do; we were stuck in one big rat maze with a predator that had home field advantage. At least until these rats figured out a way to turn the tables and make the predator the prey.

**So yeah, I'm stopping it there for now. There'll be more Knock Out drama next chapter (Knock Out + bat poop= one helluva headache for Val), I promise. About the whole basilisk being attracted to light, I know it's not really practical but I remember a story I'd read when I was in middle school about this basilisk that hated the light and whenever anyone brought a light into its cave it would kill them, so that's where I got the idea (I really ought to find out what book that was). Oh and just to set the record straight here and now, Breakdown has no interest in Val (romantically speaking) nor does she have any interest in him, so don't go reading too much into that hand holding scene, there's nothing there. So the final chapter for this story arc should, at the very latest, be up by Friday. I think that's all for now. **

**Until next time, **

**Wolfwitch**


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